The Ashanti Flour Users Association has petitioned the Ministry of Trade and Industry over hikes in prices of flour.

A bag of flour which cost GH₵280 in the first quarter of this year currently sells at GH₵660.

The skyrocketed price is pushing most flour users, especially bakeries, out of business.

Some can no longer pay workers and others are wallowing in debt.

In an interview with JoyNews, some of the bakers lamented the increase in the prices of flour.

“Every two weeks, the price of flour goes up. The imported flour from Ivory Coast is cheaper compared to ours,. A bag of flour from Cote d’Ivore is not up to GH₵300 but ours is GH₵660,” she lamented.

Another bread baker also said that due to the situation, they are unable to pay the workers, adding that the number of bags of bread baked on daily basis has also reduced.

“You have to employ two people before you are able to bake a bag of bread. I speak to you now, I have over 45 workers. It happened that we had to lay some of the workers off but the situation is still the same.”

Prices of other baking materials such as margarine, salt, milk, sugar, and eggs have equally shot up.

Chief Executive of BB Super Fine Bakery, Theresa Boakye Boadu, says the hike in prices has affected the quality of bread on the market.

This new means deployed by bakers which affect the quality of bread, in her view is to enable the baker to still remain in business.

“The prices of eggs have gone up so if you are using about 20 eggs for a bag, you cannot use it, you have to reduce to about 12. So definitely, it will affect the quality and that is not probably what you were taught,” she said.