After bread, rusk and khari to get more expensive too in Pune bakeries

Pune: Bakeries across the city are likely to raise prices of bread, rusk, khari, and other baked products over coming weeks as rising diesel prices are pushing up overall costs.Bread is expected to go up by Rs5 per 400gm pack by next week, followed by price hikes in other baked products.Farokh Irani, who runs the Imperial Bakery in Camp, said, “Bakeries have been bleeding over the last two months. The price of cylinders we use for our ovens have more than doubled in the last year. We haven’t passed on prices to customers as yet but we cannot absorb the price hikes anymore.”Many local bakeries and commercial units rely on diesel-fired ovens or generators during power fluctuations.Costlier diesel also comes at a time when baking essentials like maida, butter and packaging materials are already seeing elevated costs. “Bakery products with thin margins — including pav, sandwich bread and rusk — may see the earliest price revisions, with hikes ranging from Rs4 to Rs8 depending on the product category and the volume the bakery produces,” said another baker in Fatimanagar, choosing to stay unnamed.Naseer Ahmed Ansari, who runs the Golden Bakery in Salisbury Park, said, “It’s not only fuel costs, but even transport and packaging costs have gone up by almost 30%. We don’t have an option but to pass on price increases to customers now.”Baked goods supplied to cafés, restaurants and supermarkets will also see an upward revision in the next month. “The problem is that everything is becoming costly at the same time. Bread for breakfast, butter for sandwiches, vegetables for lunch, fuel for travel, there is pressure from every direction. Small business owners and common people are constantly calculating and compromising,” said Sandeep Jagtap, a sandwich stall owner from Kondhwa.“The price of every item will go up once diesel prices move up further. As of now, I am holding prices as is, but we will be passing it on to customers once it becomes unaffordable,” said Salamat Irani, owner of the City Bakery in Camp.On May 16, Modern revised prices of its basic bread variants by Rs5 per pack.Customers are already feeling the heat. “Prices of essentials like bread and butter are rising by a few rupees but it makes a big difference in monthly expenses as these not optional items. When their prices rise repeatedly, it affects the dignity and comfort of ordinary families,” said Amrut Gaikwad, a senior citizen residing in Aundh.