The price of a 450-gram loaf of bread rises by Rs 5 from midnight tonight, and other bakery products go up by the same amount, the All Ceylon Bakery Owners’ Association has announced.
ACBOA President M.K. Jayawardena said the Association had decided to raise the price of other bakery products by Rs 5 as well, and that the revised prices take effect from midnight on Friday 30 October, the Daily Mirror reported at 9.41 a.m.
Hiru News carried the same decision at 9.34 a.m., also attributing it to the Association and giving the same 450g unit and the same Rs 5 figure for both bread and other bakery items.
The flour increase came first
The rise follows a wheat flour increase this desk reported ten days ago. On 20 October importers raised the price of a kilogram of wheat flour by Rs 13, the second increase announced since August — reported here at the time.
That filing carried no reason for the revision, and the Consumer Affairs Authority chairman said at the time that the CAA had not been informed of the Rs 13 increase.
The pass-through to the counter began almost immediately. Prices of short eats — parathas, egg rotis and similar items — went up Rs 5 from midnight on 21 October, the day after the flour move. Bread itself has now followed, ten days later.
What the two filings do and do not establish
Both outlets report the same decision in the same terms, and both attribute it to the Association rather than to a government price order. Neither filing published a new retail price for the 450g loaf — only the size of the increase — so the figure consumers will pay from tonight is not stated in either report.
Neither filing gives a reason for the increase. Neither says whether the Association consulted the Consumer Affairs Authority before announcing it, or whether the CAA was informed in advance — the question that arose over the flour increase ten days ago.
Not reported
No filing states the new price of a 450g loaf, the previous price it rises from, or the revised prices of the other bakery products covered. Neither outlet reports whether bakery owners sought a formal price revision, whether the CAA has responded, or whether the Association gave notice to the authorities.
Nothing is reported on whether loaves of other weights are affected, or on how the Rs 13 flour increase translates into the Rs 5 figure the Association has settled on.
