OREANDA-NEWS The output of frozen semi-finished products, from which bread is baked in retail chains, increased by 32 percent in the first five months of the year. Kommersant writes about this with reference to the data of the Russian Union of Bakers (RSP, unites 185 enterprises of the industry).

For example, the Vladimir Bakery increased sales of such products by 27 percent, to 375 million rubles, while sales of loaves of fresh pastries increased by only 3.5 percent, to 993 million. At the same time, sales of other varieties of ready-made bread fell by 8.12 percent, to 463 million rubles.

The President of the RSP Dmitry Semenov explained that semi-finished products make it possible to restrain the rise in bread prices by expanding the geography of supplies and saving on logistics. The shelf life of such goods allows them to be delivered on a more flexible schedule and transported from one region to another. At the same time, bakers, like specialists in many other industries, have recently been faced with rising costs due to the rise in the cost of freight transportation, which, in turn, is due to a shortage of personnel.

Valentin Maksimov, director of the Association of Bakers and Confectioners, pointed out that stores also reduce costs by using less recycling of bread that could not be sold. According to the Association of Retail Companies (ACORT), in 2023 the number of bakeries inside stores increased by one and a half times, although some chains have seen an increase of five to seven times.

Earlier, the publication reported that the increase in bread prices at the beginning of the year led to the fact that the Ministry of Agriculture gathered large producers to discuss the problem and took the situation under special control. At that time, market participants explained to officials that transportation costs were the most influential factor in inflation.