Warning over rise in price of bread

CONSUMERS were urged yesterday not to be hoodwinked into believing that a predicted rise in the cost of bread has anything to do with wheat prices.

Media reports claimed the hot summer in Europe and increased wheat prices would lead to an increase of 10c to 15c in the price of a loaf of bread next month.

But IFA deputy president Ruaidhri Deasy said there was no justification whatsoever for such a rise, based on prices paid to farmers.

“Wheat prices to farmers this year have improved by around €20 per tonne after a collapse in EU prices in recent years, but they are still running at 1999 levels.”

Mr Deasy, a prominent Tipperary grain grower, said despite lower prices to farmers in recent years, the benefit was clearly not passed back to consumers.

In fact, CSO figures show that the price of a standard white loaf has risen by 10%, from 98c in 1999 to 108c this year.

Mr Deasy said the farmer’s share of the standard loaf costing 108c was just 8.5c for the wheat used to make flour, the main ingredient in bread.

This year’s rise in wheat prices equates to no more than 1.7c per loaf, he said.