Local manufacturers have traditionally controlled Ghana’s bread business, a mainstay in the populace’s diet. However, current focus has shifted to a new huge facility located along the Accra-Tema highway.
This growth has sparked alarm in the community, as suspicions rise that large-scale manufacturing would push out smaller participants.
Historically priced at GH5, the cost of a loaf of bread has fluctuated due to currency rate volatility and interruptions from global markets, like as the crisis in Ukraine. These variations in size, weight, and flavor have driven local bakers to strike a delicate balance between manufacturing costs and sale pricing, all with the goal of reaching a breakeven threshold.
The rising prices of bread manufacturing inputs have forced manufacturers to pass on the increasing costs to customers. As a result of this change, several local bakeries have closed their doors, while others have hung on in the hope of better times.
The bread business continues to be an important contributor to Ghana’s economy, creating jobs along the value chain.
Citi News witnessed shopkeepers near the Kpone barrier engaging potential customers attentively, illustrating the dedication spurred by economic realities despite thin profit margins.
Some hawkers, however, stated that the present high prices made it difficult to sell a large amount of bread in a day, limiting their potential earnings.
Hot Oven Bread has established a significant market share in the Greater Accra and Volta areas. Despite this, the firm has experienced significant hurdles over its five-year existence, notably as a result of the global economic crisis.
These obstacles, when combined with local dynamics, have resulted in quick and significant price rises in a short period of time.
The firm’s accountant, Fred Kwashie, shed light on this trip, emphasizing the industry’s profitability while underlining the issue of high raw material costs, which are mostly imported.
Kwashie is an advocate for protecting local industry participants against foreign incursion.
He underlines that a business of this sort should ideally be preserved for the benefit of Ghanaians, expressing doubt about the government’s attempts to protect them against international behemoths with vast resources.
The landscape of the bread business has expanded from small-scale operations to an industrial level, with established brands like Hot Oven and A1 bread, as well as the growing player, Amigo Bread, located along the highway.
Amigo Bread, a subsidiary of BB Bakery under the Three Dreamer Manufacturing Company Limited, aspires to transform the sector via the use of cutting-edge technology. The Executive Director, Bismark Ofei-Ansah, declares firmly that demand for bread remains strong, supporting the need for growth.
Ofei-Ansah recognizes the difficulties associated with high manufacturing costs, which include issues such as power, water, and taxes.
He supports government action to address these important issues. Ofei-Ansah’s own bread factory, which is presently undergoing testing, is positioned as one of the largest and is set to open in the coming weeks.
Paapa Baah, the Administrator of Bread Academy, which focuses on bread manufacturing training, pushes for inclusive expansion in the midst of continuous arguments about the admission of both domestic and international competitors into the broad bread market.
While concerns about international competition remain, the general consensus is that there is enough room for all competitors in Ghana’s developing bread business.
