Bread manufacturers in Ukraine are announcing a price increase for their products in the first decade of February. The reason for the increase in cost is the increase in production costs due to the increase in the cost of electricity, fuel and the minimum wage.

According to Oleksandr Taranenko, the first vice-president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers, since the beginning of January alone, the cost of bakery products has increased by 6–7%. The main factors were an increase in electricity tariffs by almost 30% for enterprises, an increase in the minimum wage and additional fuel costs for generators in the event of power outages.

The expert explained that in cases of forced switching to generators, costs increase significantly: at an average bakery, 60–70 liters of fuel are used to operate the generator every hour, at large enterprises - twice as much. In the conditions of winter frosts, enterprises are forced to purchase Arctic diesel, which costs about UAH 8 per liter more than usual.

“This automatically increases the cost of production by 2–3%, and in combination with other costs, including the increase in the minimum wage, total costs have increased by 6–7% since the beginning of the year,” Taranenko noted.

In this regard, producers plan to increase bread prices by 5%. According to him, this is about one hryvnia per loaf, which is a small burden for the average consumer. A Ukrainian consumes approximately 150–200 g of bread daily, that is, about 5 kg per month, which is equivalent to expenses of UAH 200–210 per month.

Taranenko emphasized that the price increase will ensure the stable availability of bread on store shelves and in school and home rations of Ukrainians. The main factors of the increase in cost remain energy sources, logistics, wages and inflationary processes.

Thus, despite the moderate price increase, this step is necessary to support the production activities of bakery enterprises and ensure food stability in the country.