More than two months after the Cuban government announced the reduction in the size of the basic basket bread, the Minister of Food Industry stated that they do not intend to give up on restoring it to its original weight.
Alberto López Díaz spoke on Thursday at the Round Table and recalled that the ration had to be reduced from 80 grams to 60 grams due to a shortage of raw materials.
"To ensure the bread in the basket, we need 425 tons of flour daily with this consumption standard; previously, we required 800 tons," he stated.
López Díaz added that the reduction in weight is due to a lack of funding and ships arriving on time, but that Miguel Díaz-Canel's instruction is to "return as quickly as possible to the 80-gram bread."
According to the executive, a ton of wheat costs around 400 to 500 dollars, depending on the market. There are some markets very close by that Cuba cannot access, which is why it has to be imported from farther away, increasing freight costs and extending transit times.
"We need 450 thousand dollars daily and over 13 million monthly for daily bread," specified the executive, who boasted that the oil for bread production is 100% guaranteed, "although we have fallen short on the oil in the basket."
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