Long Queues at Bakeries and Bread Rationing in Sanandaj; Flour Shortage Forces Bakeries to Close
According to reports, following a shortage and lack of flour in Sanandaj, some bakeries in the city have been forced to temporarily close in recent days.
The IRNA news agency in a photo report released on Wednesday, December 29, attributed the recent flour shortage in the city to “heavy snowfall and freezing.”
In this report, a Sanandaj resident stated that he stood in line for five hours to buy 10 loaves of bread.
A baker also attributed the flour shortage to distribution problems and said that previously, flour would reach the city’s bakeries one day after monthly registration on the website, but after changing the distribution company, which he named “Persian Gulf,” flour distribution takes up to a week after registration, and the flour shortage problem repeats itself in the final week of each month in the city.
According to this baker, Sanandaj bakeries are forced to ration bread in sales so that it is available to everyone, and sometimes after citizens stand in line for several hours, they do not receive bread.
Meanwhile, Tasnim news agency in a report released on Thursday, December 30, described the closure of bakeries in Sanandaj as an “arbitrary” measure by bakers “in the shadow of lack of oversight by responsible officials.” Bakery owners reject this accusation.
Problems of bread shortage and lack of bread in various Iranian cities occasionally make headlines. This is while given economic problems and the inability of many families to provide other food sources such as rice and meat, bread has currently become the main staple of most Iranians.
Meanwhile, the head of Iran’s Food Industries Association previously announced in mid-November that in the current year, inflation in inputs and drought have challenged wheat production.
In this regard, the ILNA news agency previously reported a 30 percent decline in wheat production in the country compared to the previous year based on statistics provided by private sector activists.
Iranian officials in previous years repeatedly announced Iran’s self-sufficiency in wheat production, and even during Mohammad Khatami’s presidency, a celebration of wheat self-sufficiency was held.
Source: Radio Farda
