Quick solution soon, say officials Okaz/Saudi Gazette DAMMAM – A severe flour shortage has led some Eastern Province bakeries to stop providing bread to shops and supermarkets, and reduce supplies to restaurants by 75 percent. Investors said the problem started during Ramadan and got worse when the school year began because the bakeries signed contracts with schools to provide them with different types of pastries and pies. The shortage did not have a major effect during Ramadan because a large decrease in demand led some bakeries to cut production by as much as 50 percent, but the problem got worse when the school year started, investors said. Muhammad Al-Nahdi, an investor, said, “My weekly quota was 670 flour bags, but this week I only got 567. Because of this, I had to stop providing flour to marketing centers and reduce the restaurants' supply by 75 percent. The contracts I signed with schools make me focus on school canteens.” Al-Nahdi visited the Grain Silos and Flour Mills Organization (GSFMO) on Saturday in search for answers, but officials there blamed distributors for the shortage and promised to release full quotas of flour. Saleh Al-Sumait, a distributor, said that the GSFMO has released all quotas for bakeries after distributors faced difficult times trying to get their required quotas. “The GSFMO has promised to provide full quotas for bakeries in the next few days,” he said. “The crisis is going to end soon.” Five trucks full of flour bags left the GSFMO headquarters to distribute flour to bakeries, Al-Sumait added. The quota for each bakery, which is determined each week, is based on consumption levels and quantities ordered by bakeries, he explained. Eastern Province bakeries had a similar crisis a year ago when the price of one bag of flour reached SR50, double the normal price. At the time, the Organization had to lay down new requirements and procedures to determine quotas for each bakery. __
