The bread roll will go from 80 to 60 grams and its price will go from one peso to 75 centavos.
14ymedio, Havana, 13 September 2024 — With just a few hours’ notice, the Cuban government announced that starting this Friday the weight of the bread delivered as part of the basic basket will be 60 grams instead of the regular 80 grams. The reason, according to the authorities, is the pronounced shortage of flour for its production due – as they always claim – to the “intensification of the blockade imposed by the United States Government.”
The smaller size is added to the poor quality of the so-called bread from the store – mainly due to the addition of “extenders” to the flour to make it last longer – which Cubans constantly complain about. For their part, the directors of the Ministry of the Food Industry considered that it is better to “guarantee that the population can acquire the daily ration of bread, corresponding to a lower weight and not realize effects like those that occurred a few months ago.”
As long as the new weight is maintained, each unit of bread will cost 75 centavos instead of one peso, and priority will be given to hospitals and schools, the authorities added.
According to a note published on Cubadebate, the directors of the Food Industry explained that the country has “a volume of flour that could provide continuity” to the production of bread. However, they did not clarify the extent of these reserves and limited themselves to mentioning that the “situation” could last “a few days.” To cover the production of standard bread, the Island requires about 700 metric tons of flour daily – mostly imported – about 21,000 tons per month, according to official data.
The directors of the Food Industry explained that the country has “a volume of flour that could give continuity” to bread production
The authorities, who reported that the Cuban Bread Chain will continue to produce bread for free (unrationed) sale with the raw materials it buys from SMSEs, washed their hands of the matter by assuring that the flour and other raw materials acquired by the State for the production of bread are not “comparable with the volume of flour imported by private producers who, in the first half of the year alone, brought in a small part of what is required by the Food Industry to guarantee this service.”
Once again, the information ended with the mantra that the Government repeats every time that regulated bread becomes the focus of public debate: “a reduction in weight does not, under any circumstances, imply a reduction in the quality of that product.” What they do not quite recognize is that the bread from the bodega (ration store) has never had optimal quality. On the contrary, it is the object of complaints and mockery for its hardness, the short time it stays fresh, its texture and even its flavor.
This is not the first time that the State has reduced the size of the bread rolls due to the shortage of flour. Exactly one year ago, in September 2023, the country tightened its belt again and reduced the weight from 80 grams to 50 grams in Ciego de Ávila, even less than now, although this time the measure affects the entire country. The reason given then was the same as that repeated by the authorities on Thursday: “The lack of financial resources and the persecution of the payment methods used” by the United States.
At that time, the authorities did not set a deadline for the production of lighter-weight breads, but instead said that as the country managed to import flour, the pace of production would recover.
At that time, the authorities did not set a deadline for the production of lighter-weight breads
This year, bread has also been in short supply in Cuba. At the end of February and beginning of March, even hotels , which are prime locations when it comes to food, frequently experienced shortages of bread and other products made from flour. Donations of 25,000 tons of this raw material from the Kremlin did not help alleviate the shortage.
Around the same time, the sale of tons of flour on social media caught the attention of Cubans, who pointed out to the government its inability to import the product while SMSEs sold it by the sack in their stores or on websites such as Revolico.
Months later, in May, the bread was once again the subject of debate over its quality. According to many residents in Las Tunas, the food had a sandy texture that made it crumble in the mouth. Although the authorities then acknowledged that this was due to the fact that the flour had a high level of “impurities,” they assured that it was “fit for consumption.”
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