The Ashanti Flour Users Association is petitioning the Ministry of Trade and Industry over hikes in prices of flour.

A bag of flour which cost GHC280 in the first quarter of this year, currently sells at 660 cedis.

The skyrocketed price is pushing most flour users, especially bakeries, out of business.

The flour users suspect foul play by flour importers.

Importers in both Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire import the flour from the same countries. But the users in Ghana claim a bag of flour sells at less than 400 cedis in Cote d’Ivoire

The Association wants the government to investigate with the intent of helping to subsidize the flour to make their business competitive with their counterparts in neighbouring countries.

“Due to the low price in Cote d’Ivoire, most of our members have purchased the flour from that country, but the importers in Ghana have succeeded in working with customs to seize their goods. We believe there is ‘Kalabule’ in the pricing, which the government must investigate,” they alleged.

The Association says members are losing their businesses. Some can no longer pay workers and others are wallowing in debt.

Prices of other raw materials such as margarine, salt, milk, sugar, eggs have equally shot up.

Chief Executive Officer of BB Super Fine Bakery, Theresa Boakye Boadu, says this has affected the quality of bread on the market.

“Some bakers now use small amounts of these products, while others fail to use them in baking bread,” she said.

Madam Theresa used to bake 350 bags of flour a day. This has now reduced to 170 bags and sometimes less with the same number of employees.

She plans to lay off at least 40 of her workers this month.

“Stand up … a loaf of bread sold at 12 cedis today is said to be sold at 20 to 50 cedis if bakers have to maintain quality with all the necessary ingredients. Increment started this year from 5 cedis to 6 cedis, 8 cedis and now 12 cedis yet the quality is not the same’.

A baker, Eva Asante, says they are not baking with the respective ingredients because they cannot afford the high cost.

Those who are still in business are hopeful the government will listen to their plight.

Workers in the baking industry in Kumasi are appealing to the government to listen to the plight of the bakers to keep them in business.

A senior supervisor at BB Super Fine Bakery, Emmanuel Kwasi Sagoe, says the current economic woes will worsen the situation if some workers are not sent home.

“When we are laid off under this economic situation, how can we feed our family? We are about 96 workers and definitely half of us will go home,” he expressed worry.

Women in the retail bakery business are also feeling the heat of low sales due to the continuous increase in the price of bread.

Retailer Sandra Danquah says she used to sell 200 loafs of bread daily, but currently sells below 100, due to the price increment.

This has affected her profit margin.

As a bread winner of the family, their living standard keeps worsening.