Tunisia: shortages of wheat and sugar put bakers in difficulty
Audio 01:42
A sale of bread in the central market of Tunis (illustrative image) AFP / Fethi Belaid
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Shortages of basic necessities continue.
For months now, the over-indebted country has been having difficulty obtaining supplies of wheat and now sugar on world markets.
On the front line, some bakers now fear having to close shop.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Tunis,
Amira Souilem
Looking a little desperate, Ali Ben Jalleb leads us into the back room of his bakery.
A few dozen sacks of flour are piled up there.
“
We will be able to last two or three days with this flour.
There are almost two tons there.
I ask my suppliers
“but why don't you supply me?”
They answer me
“because the grain office does not give us wheat”
.
I happened to close shop for 28 days because of it.
»
Usually, 4,000 baguettes come out of these ovens.
When he struggles to stock up on flour, Ali reduces his production by a third.
So much loss.
“
We usually stay open until 8:30 p.m. or even 9 p.m., but in the event of a shortage of flour, the last batch is at 5:30 p.m.
We stop everything, otherwise we have to close all weekend.
We are losing customers.
»
And to complicate the situation a little more, his suppliers now require him to travel to recover his stocks of flour.
While fuel prices have increased, it's time to save money: “
We have no choice, if we refuse, the other bakers will agree to do it.
So you only have two options: close up shop or agree to take the transport at your expense.
But at the limit, if the supplier gave us ten tons of flour, it would still be fine, but here, we are talking about a ton or a ton and a half only.
»
After wheat, it is now sugar that is in short supply in Tunisia.
Ali's baking business is now slowing down, too.
Worried, the baker explains that he fears more than anything a rise in the price of flour in the weeks to come.
This would amount to a "
death sentence
" for Tunisian bakers in his words.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Tunisia
Feed
Trade and distribution