Most bakeries are struggling to meet demand for khubz
Most bakeries are struggling to meet demand for khubz
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| Staff Reporter WITH the prices of flour showing no signs of falling in view of the steep rise in its consumption, most bakeries are struggling to meet daily demands for the popular khubz. According bakeries specialising khubz, though the price of the government-subsidised flour remain steady, the flour supply to bakeries has been cut down drastically in the last few months. The shortage has forced most bakeries to purchase flour at exorbitantly high prices. Flour that was available for less than QR55 for a 50kg bag now costs between QR136 and QR150, said one baker. The increase in the country’s population in the past two years has put pressure on the capacities of the local bakeries, he added. “At present we are not in a position to supply breads to meet the buyers’ demand. It is not only the increasing costs in overheads that is worrying us but also the shortage of flour in the market,†said a man working for a leading bakery, which has a huge market for khubz, especially in company camps. Another bakery assistant pointed out that in the absence of sufficient quantities of flour in the market, bakery’s sales have fallen alarmingly in the past few months. He said as the quantities supplied by the municipality have fallen sharply, his bakery is unable to meet even the requirements of its regular cutomers spread throughout Qatar. “As the number of workers’ accommodations going up each day, the demand for khubz too is going up. However, we are unable to meet even half the total demand of our customers (groceries), he said. Inquiries made with groceries found that none of their suppliers (bakeries) had been able to supply them with enough bread for more than a year now. A Najma shopkeeper said though at least four different bakeries had been supplying khubz to his shop, their combined supply was not even half of the actual daily requirements. He said the daily demand for khubz three years ago was about 60-70 packets and the supply was adequate. “Now the daily demand has risen to 150 packets, but supplies from three bakeries come to about 70 packets only. This is a big climbdown for our sale.†The shopkeeper said every day, the sale of khubz at his shop gets over by 7pm. “After that over a dozen customers return empty handed,†he said. A bakery on B-Ring road, which has a large number of daily customers, said sometimes there is a scramble among the customers for khubz at his place. “When we supply more than two packets to a customer, other customers raise objections,†said its Egyptian manager. According to recent figures released by the Medical Commission, over 490,000 residents visited the facility for various medical services in 2007. As a majority of expatriates are blue collar workers who reside in company camps with little facility for cooking, they entirely depend on khubz for their daily requirements. |
Porotta prices have increasesd charan"."
Eat POROTA. good replacement. Ample supply.