Kamogelo Olaitan
South African consumers across the economic spectrum are eating less bread as prices continue to soar.
In January this year, a loaf of white bread was R14.59 and it’s now R18.29 – an increase of R3.70 per loaf.
This happens as food producers all over the world battle high inflation caused primarily by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war has sent prices of wheat skyrocketing.
The price increase was confirmed by Tiger Brands while reporting its six-monthly financial results to the end of March.
Presenting the results, Tiger Brands chief growth officer Yokesh Maharaj said commodities such as wheat face supply disruptions caused by the Russian war.
“Most consumers on both the upper and lower end of the income scale are eating less bread. The bread category in totality, what we did see over the last three years is muted growth with a deceleration of at least 5% in the last year, across multiple LSM levels,” Maharah said.
He added that consumers in the highest LSM group are abandoning bread the most, followed by consumers on the lower end of the income scale.
The company said it increased the prices of some of its products in its previous financial year as cost pressures weighed on the business. This, coupled with rising commodity prices, has led to consumers ditching bread.
