–
The price of bread remains one of the darkest mysteries in the history of commerce, with inexplicable increases between the cost of the raw material, wheat, and the value posted on the loaf tag at the shop or supermarket. Five-six-seven times that, but it also reaches new peaks, it is history of these days, with the amount of wheat harvested in the fields that must even be multiplied by twelve. This is highlighted by the Coldiretti with lots of numbers and comparisons between prices that we find in different Italian cities. The most important data, the basic one, is the value of soft wheat which is sold for around 26 cents.
The problem is that on average a kilo of bread from the baker costs 3.1 euros. Schizophrenic cards that start at 4.2 euros for the loaf in Milan and go up to 2.63 euros in Rome and 2.95 euros in Palermo. Obviously, many factors have an impact – few other ingredients such as yeast, salt and water, much more the cost of personnel, energy, depreciation of plants and transport. But there is a constant that makes us think: despite the strong variability in the value of wheat, in recent years consumer prices for bread have never dropped. This means that given the soaring cost of raw materials the situation can only get worse.
Assopanificatori, the association that brings together bakers and pastry chefs, has in fact raised the alarm: “We have already had a hot summer in terms of wheat prices – explains the president Davide Trombini a sustained dynamic, which is approaching the values recorded in the previous market blaze in 2008. And for the autumn, strong increases are expected also for flour, butter, oil and yeast ». The data tell us that durum wheat increased by 9.9% and soft wheat by 17.7% in one year. While double-digit leaps in flour are expected for half the month. Not only. Because the costs of tariffs and fuels also rise, which from April onwards recorded double-digit growth. More 15.7% in August for electricity, more 34% for gas and more 16.8% for fuels and lubricants for means of transport. “
We risk an unsustainable situation – concludes Trombini – because under these conditions, in addition to the increases in electricity, water and gas, bakers cannot manage not to increase retail prices. The increases in wholesale and at the origin of wheat and oils have not yet been translated into consumer products which, on the contrary, continue to show lower increases in both average inflation and food inflation. But it won’t be able to last much longer ». Solutions? “We need supervisory action on wholesale prices and avoid speculative operations on commodities. We would not want that in the end there was talk of dear bread or anything else ».
Thus the request to the Minister of Agriculture is renewed Stefano Patuanelli to open a “Wheat-Bread Table” to arrive at a strategic plan of the supply chain that enhances its protagonists. «The primary purpose of the initiative – underlines Assopanificatori – is to guarantee attention to the enhancement of products from the field to the table, uniting agricultural producers, milling companies and bakery companies. All together, with the coordination of the Mipaaf, to identify the useful actions tending to a path of consolidation and relaunch of supply chain companies, counteracting with forced speculations that could irremediably compromise the very existence of the companies “.
– .
