Moroccan commercial bakers agreed to suspend a price increase set to start next Monday, pending the outcome of talks with the government.
The plan by some 15,000 bakeries to raise prices 10 - 30 centimes per loaf is on hold, the head of the Moroccan Federation of Bakers and Patissiers (FBPM) told Menara on Wednesday (November 13th).
The increase was envisaged because the Benkirane government had yet to honour an agreement reached in 2011, federation chief Lahoucine Azaz said.
"The problem of the increase in the price of bread, in terms of tension between the government and professionals, is not new. This has been on the table for many years," the head of the Moroccan Federation of Consumer Rights (FMDC) told Magharebia.
According to Bouazza Kherati, "bread weighs no more than 170 grams, while the legal weight is supposed to be 200 grams per loaf".
"The loaf should meet the legal weight requirement," the consumer advocate said. "Manipulation of weights is the problem that citizens do not see."
Another issue complicates efforts to regulate the sector, Kherati said.
"There are people selling bread in the street weighing no more than 150 grams at 1 dirham," he noted. "They are popular with ordinary citizens who do not care much about weight, because the important thing for them is to get the bread at the lowest possible price."
One such unregulated vendor is Hassan Herdoul, who sells bread in front of the Bab Marrakech market at 1 dirham per loaf.
"Citizens accept my goods because I sell hot bread for less than bakers offer. This is what the citizen is looking for - a lower price," he told Magharebia.
"I do not care if bakeries increase the price of their bread. I'm fine so far and making good money," he added.
His latest customer, a housewife with five children, had just bought 10 loaves.
"I get my needs in terms of bread from here in the market because it is hot and cheaper," Hajja Malika explained. "I don't even go near the bakeries unless I need to buy sweets, which happens only once or twice a month."
Noureddine Adib, who leads a popular movement called "Don't Touch My Loaf", warned of the consequences of touching the bread of the poor.
"The events that took place in Casablanca in 1981, when the authorities entered into a bloody confrontation with the citizens and many lives were lost, was triggered by an increase in the price of bread," he told Magharebia.
He continued, "Bread means a lot to the regular citizen. Most ordinary citizens live on bread, olives, and tea. Touching their daily loaf means a real revolution, so I warn against increasing the price of bread even by one cent."
"The citizen may cope with an increase in the price of sweets or milk, or any other consumable, but if you touch bread and the basis of his life, the consequence could be dire," Adib warned.
© Magharebia.com 2013
