The cost of bread and other bakery products such as cakes, pies and pastries could increase by up to 20 per cent within weeks due to a sharp rise in the cost of wheat.
According to The Mirror, a worldwide surge in demand for wheat has seen prices rise by 26.7 per cent and experts have warned higher prices on supermarket shelves are inevitable.
Bread wheat is currently trading on commodity markets at £255.40 a tonne, up nearly 27 per cent from last year and its highest for nine years.
The news comes as pasta prices are also soaring, due to an ongoing durum wheat shortage and food prices are now at a 10-year high around the world.
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Factors such as rising fuel costs, the lorry driver shortage, and higher wages to tackle the recruitment crisis are all contributing to the increasing food prices.
“Global wheat prices keep climbing each week on the back of supply concerns, and UK prices are following global trends,” AHDB agricultural body analyst Alice Jones told The Mirror.
Britain’s Federation of Bakers chief executive officer Gordon Polson also told The Grocer: “Energy pricing is also on the rise, while HGV driver shortages and recruitment are resulting in increased wage rates.”
Allied Bakeries, which owns Kingsmill, added that the industry was “exposed to inflationary pressure in relation to the cost of flour, as well as the gas we use in our ovens and fuel for our delivery fleet.”
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