In Istanbul, a hike in bread may come in February

President of the Istanbul Chamber of Bakers, Erdogan Cetin, said in a statement that the industry had problems last year due to cost increases.

Expressing that the hikes that affect the production cost such as electricity, water, natural gas, fuel and labor are not reflected in the bread price, Çetin noted that 200 grams of bread is sold for 5 liras in Istanbul, and that the cost of the bread in question is between 4.5 and 4.80 liras, including all expenses. .

Noting that approximately 20 million breads are produced in the city per day, Çetin said that half of the tradesmen could not afford the costs, and that alternative products were sold in many bakeries to survive.

Stating that the tradesmen demand a raise, Çetin said, “Our members have a demand that the bread prices do not cover the costs at the moment, but we have not made a price request yet.” he said.

IN THE FUTURE DAYS…

Çetin explained that they are currently observing and that they will conduct a study on this in the coming days.

Underlining that there is no price increase as of today, Çetin said, “It would not be very accurate to give a clear date. Because this month’s official tariff has been released. It would not be right to say ‘this day, this time’. It is certain that the price increase will not be in January. February. “We will sit down and look at it during the month. Of course, we also have expenses. Hopefully, we will meet at a common point. We will come up with a decision that will make both our tradesmen and our citizens happy,” he said.

Stating that the price of new bread will be determined after the cost study, Çetin said, “The artisans will not raise the price in any way, unless the baker is in a difficult situation, they will not demand a raise in any way. They constantly demand a price increase because they are in trouble. The reason for this is increasing energy costs, raw material costs. “It is not right for the baker to be the scapegoat here,” he said.

Stating that they are aware of the troublesome process that the country is going through, Çetin said that they are trying to manage as much as they can.

Defending that there are tradesmen who cannot manage, Çetin said, “We are also obliged to voice their troubles and problems. We expect good things in 2023. We think that the market will be even better after the elections. Hopefully, we wish a year without raises. The rises do not benefit us much. With our customers. “We are constantly confronted with it. This is our expectation. The crisis in the world, the energy shortage, of course, affects our country and us immensely,” he said.