DEARER BREAD

Southland Times, Issue 21090, 23 May 1930, Page 8

DEARER BREAD

- BAKER’S FORECAST PRICE INCREASED IN DUNEDIN POSITION IN INVERCARGILL It was announced from Duuedin yesterday that the bakers of that city had agreed to increase the price of their bread by one penny per loaf; - The price of bread in Dunedin had previously been lOd. per loaf over the counter and the increase was not caused by any increase in , the cost of manufacture, but was stated to be. due entirely to a reversion from unwarrantable price cutting. Th,e manager of one of the principal baking concerns in Invercargill, who was interviewed yesterday regarding the matter, said: “I had not heard of the increased price, but I knew it had to come. We are selling bread over the counter at a shilling the four-pound loaf and that doesn’t give us any margin. We have been giving something to the public, but they don’t appreciate it. Flour has just been increased by 10/- per ton and that means that we will have to increase our price by a halfpenny a loaf. The increase of 10/- per ton may, not justify a halfpenny rise, but the bakers in the city must increase their margin. The position at present is that other lines have to cam’ the burden of the bread, and the ,bakers who are not in a large way are having a. very hard time. "When it becomes known that the price of bread is to be increased by a half-penny the four-pound loaf,” he continued, “there will be something nearly approaching a revolution, and the unfortunate bakers will be called hard names. The bakers will be. increasing the price of their bread by oneeighth of a penny per pound, and the public will regard it as a crime, but the butchers can increase the price of meat by eight times as much and there is nothing said about it. Flour costs about £1 per ton more in Invercargill than in Dunedin, and the price here is the same as in Wellington, but bread is twopence the fourpound loaf dearer in Wellington. Another interesting point is the fact that flour, which costs under £ll per ton in Melbourne, costs over £lB per ton in Invercargill, but the price of bread is the same in both centres. The public of Invercargill do not realize it, but they have been getting their bread at very near cost. “Another thing Which causes unfavourable comment,” he continued, “is the cast of the delivery of bread. Wc charge a penny per loaf and it sounds a great deal, but it actually costs fourpence a loaf to deliver. A good man will deliver only 600 loaves a week, because it is mostly in half or quarter loaves. Just think of the wages of the man who does the delivering and the cost of running the delivery’ van and you can work it out for yourself. Half a loaf is delivered for a halfpenny and what carrier would deliver anything for that amount?” •