A stormy discussion took place Wednesday morning 22 Shevat in the Knesset Finance Committee on the demand of the large bakeries, Angel, Berman, Inbar and others to allow them to raise the price of the standard bread under supervision.

According to the bakeries, their accumulated losses for about seven years following the erosion in the ratio of the standard price of bread to the consumer compared to their expenses. The representatives of the bakeries said that “in order to keep their heads above the water” they “had to sell and sell assets, did not renew equipment and machinery and are now on the brink of collapse.”

“While the small bakeries, neighborhood bakeries that do not sell regulated products, such as uniform bread, because they are unprofitable, this is a major product and the losses for them will not allow them to continue operating for a long time,” the bakeries said.

Committee Chairman MK Moshe Gafne told Finance Ministry representatives, “We have reached decision time and if there is no change in the government’s policy on the matter, sooner or later the bakeries will collapse and then we will find ourselves in a broken trough, and weaker populations will have to buy expensive breads, which must be prevented.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)