Ships of wheat flour arrive to stabilize the distribution of bread in Cuba

The arrival of a ship to the port of Santiago de Cuba with 8,300 tons of wheat flour will stabilize the production of bread in the provinces from Ciego de Ávila to Guantánamo, as revealed by theCuban News Agency (ACN).

Alberto López Díaz, the new Minister of the Food Industry, said thatThe flour that arrived in the country “does not have an industrial process” and that for this reason the deadlines to stabilize production were shortened and we will not have to wait until the end of March, as they had previously announced.

The ship arrived last Saturday and on Sunday the flour began to be distributed in the aforementioned provinces to immediately begin the production of bread for the family basket regulated in the east of the country.

“This shipment responds to efforts by the highest leadership of the Cuban Government to respond to the real context,” added the minister; who assured that, despite the complex situation with fuel, transportation logistics from the port of Santiago de Cuba to the planned destinations is assured.

López Díaz reported that Last week, another ship with wheat also arrived at the port of Cienfuegos, which, although it will not guarantee total consumption of bread production, will allow a gradual recovery of the arrears for the west and center of the country.

Despite the arrival of ships with wheat flourThe use of extenders in the production of the product is maintained at up to 15 percent.

The senior manager specified that, after the arrival of the two ships, the Cienfuegos mill, which was the only one in operation, did not stop.

For central and western Cuba, new arrivals are expected soon that will allow production to be stabilized even further.

Currently, only the Cienfuegos mill produces flour - with a capacity of 240 tons per day - hence the complex situation presented in which the territories adjusted the distribution of bread.

It was last February 24 when authorities from the Ministry of the Food Industry (MINAL) announced thatuntil the end of March there would be severe effects on the delivery of bread from the regulated family basket due to delays in the arrival of wheat shipments.

“Financial restrictions basically associated with the intensified blockade and the logistical limitations that Cuba suffers in bringing wheat from distant markets are the essential causes of the delay in the arrival of ships with the cereal,” explained then Emerio González Lorenzo, president of the Business Group of the Food Industry, who stated that the last shipments had arrived at the end of January.

The manager also explained that only the Cienfuegos mill was working, which only managed to produce 250 tons of flour per day out of the 700 that consume only bread from the regulated family basket. In the midst of the crisis, the authorities even announced that they were even negotiating the purchase of imported flour through "non-state forms of management."

The situation generated a barrage of criticism and exacerbated the already delicate food panorama in Cuba, where 20,000 tons of flour are needed just to produce the bread that guarantees the regulated family basket.

The drama of the shortage of wheat flour to cope with bread production is not new. In 2023, Cubans throughout the country already experienced periodic irregularities in the sale of regulated bread. Added to these irregularities is the poor quality of the bread sold.