Cuban Bread Company provides gastronomic services in the face of flour shortage

TheCuban Bread Company had to resort to the provision ofgastronomic services before theflour shortage in the country.

Baking companies now produce and market fruit juices, tomato puree, condiments, “processed” fruits and vegetables, croquettes and “a range of food products,” he told the official newspaper.GranmaMaidel Linares Ramos, first vice president of the Food Industry Business Group.

Although heMinistry of Internal Trade (MINCIN) A little over a month ago, he denied effects on the production and distribution of bread from the regulated family basket and the Cuban Bread Chain, Linares recognized the evident crisis with that basic ingredient for the preparation of food.

According to the official, of the three ships of wheat per month, necessary “to work with comfortable coverage, without affecting the population,” only one is received, which she attributed to the “economic blockade of the US government.” ” as part of the usual argument to justify the economic crisis in the country.

Although they have ventured into gastronomic services and expanded their offerings due to the lack of bread to sell, this does not solve the need of the population, he admitted. Nieves Lebeque Rabeiro, deputy deputy director of the Cuban Bread Company.

Given the impossibility of offering “hard crust” bread, they had to experiment with extenders based on root vegetables and fruit pulp and expand the sale to “healthy breads” and the pastry line, which includes “varieties of cake, fruit tarts , gypsy arm and puff pastry specialties”, but they cannot satisfy the demand, Lebeque acknowledged.

Coupled with the crisis of the base product, in the Cuban Milling Company, where wheat is processed for the production of flour, there is a constant fluctuation of workers due to low salaries in the entity.

According to Linares, the average monthly salary is around 3,500 pesos, which leads workers to look for other job options in the private sector; although Yanet Lomba Estupiñán, technical director of the Cuban Milling Company, said ina recent report from the National Television News that it was only 3,000 pesos.

On that occasion, Lomba pointed out that the new operators had to pass technical courses and receive training that influenced the delay in flour production.

Although state companies claim to “guarantee” the flour for the production of bread from the regulated family basket and the supply to the Cuban Bread Chain, the population's complaints persist throughout the country, since access to this food it becomes more and more complicated.

In the national television report, the discontent of the population in a Havana municipality was evident regarding the decrease in supply in the Cuban Bread Company stores.

The absence of bread in state entities has forced citizens to try to purchase it in private businesses, whereprices rise up to 200 pesos a bag.