Ukraine's bread industry faces serious challenges

Ukraine's bread industry is facing serious challenges that may lead to a significant increase in prices for this staple product. The president of the "All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers" and the director of LLC "Kyiv Bread" Yuriy Duchenko warned about a possible increase in the price of bread by 30% in the coming months. One of the main reasons is power supply problems, grain shortages and military mobilization.

According to Duchenko, many enterprises in the bakery industry, although they have the status of critical infrastructure, suffer from periodic power outages, which significantly complicates their work. This forces some of the factories to switch to the use of electric generators, which affects the overall stability of production and increases costs.

Problems with the power supply lead to the production of defective products and equipment malfunctions, which destroy the technological cycles of bread production. At the same time, the costs of bread production using electric generators are much higher compared to electric grids.

According to Duchenko, the cost of electricity for simple recipes of bread is 50 kopecks, while production on a generator can increase this cost to 1.5 hryvnias. This directly affects the final cost of products.

In addition to electricity supply, the grain industry of Ukraine faces problems in the field of providing second- and third-class grain. Flour mills are already experiencing difficulties in finding the necessary volumes of grain, which has led to an increase in flour prices by 25-30%.

Also, the problem with the reservation of labor force is noted, as many enterprises are forced to change work schedules and reduce production volumes due to the lack of workers.

In general, the situation in the bread industry of Ukraine is extremely difficult, which already creates the prerequisites for a significant increase in bread prices by 10% in the coming months. In the conditions of worsening problems with energy supply, provision of grain and personnel, the future of the industry remains uncertain and requires immediate measures to solve the crisis problems.