RIYADH – The Ministry of Agriculture has made it clear that there was no government move to subsidy on flour and bread. Flour mill organizations sell flour to bakeries at the same fixed rates and according to the daily rations for each organization, Al-Hayat daily reported.
Saudis consume large amounts of bread on a daily basis and almost eat it during the three daily meals. It is the second important staple for them after rice. Saudis consume the largest amount of bread on a daily basis at the global level. The Kingdom relies heavily on importing wheat from abroad to keep sufficient supplies of it. Towards the end of 2016, the country imported over three million ton of wheat.
All those who live in the Kingdom, expatriates included, consume daily 235 gram of wheat and other types of bread. The government has not changed the prices of bread for the last 35 years despite the changes which energy prices have seen lately and the fact that the prices of material used in making bread have increased 300 percent. Because of these changes, many bakeries have gone out of business.
Last October, the Saudi Council of Ministers imposed fines and penalties on bread and flour products which bakeries and factories waste in order to discourage them from this negative practice, which squanders an important resource.
Last year, over 2,000 bakeries in the Eastern Province submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture suggesting that the prices of bread should be increased just like the prices of energy resources. However, the ministry warned them against raising the prices or modifying the weight of a loaf of bread. In 2015, the prices of brown and white flour made by the Saudi Grains Organization increased by 14.96 percent for the former and 14.02 percent for the latter.
The average prices of food products set by the General Authority of Statistics showed an increase in the price of brown flour in 2015 up to SR2.27 from SR1.97 in 2014. This increase came at the time when the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported a decrease in global wheat prices in 2015 due to large global supply.
The most popular type is Samoli bread which is used for sandwiches and eaten during breakfast. It is especially popular among school students. Samoli is named after an African baker called Issa Al-Somali who introduced it to the country over half a century ago.
