Consumers in Australia look set to be the next to see bread become more expensive rise with bakery giant George Weston Foods (GWF) warning that price rises are “inevitable”.
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The warning comes just weeks after the UK’s leading bakers said bread prices would rise, while French bakers also cautioned that bread in the country would become more expensive.
GWF, an arm of UK-based Associated British Foods, blamed the “worst drought in living memory” in Australia for putting pressure on wheat prices.
Chief executive Geoff Starr said: “Bread manufacturers are not immune from the pricing pressures facing the food industry generally as a result of the ongoing drought.
“Based on the outlook for global grain supply and pricing and the continuing local drought, it is inevitable that there will be a significant flow on effect impacting the price of bread.”
Starr said a recent forecast from a leading Australian politician that bread prices could rise by up to A$0.20 (US$0.18) a loaf was “not an unreasonable assumption”.
Earlier this month, Associated British Foods warned that prices of its Kingsmill bread would rise in the UK due to the rising cost of wheat.
In August, the French bakery federation highlighted the possibility of consumers paying up to 17-18% more for bread products such as baguettes as a consequence of the wheat hike.
