Power Outages Lead to Waste of Dough in Iranian Bakeries

The advisor for flour and bread at the Iranian Chamber of Guilds states that sudden power outages in bakeries cause dough to sour, leaving no option but to discard it. Mohammad Javad Karami said on Sunday, August 28, to the ILNA news agency that currently, bakeries in the country endure power outages of one to three hours each day, which are not scheduled. According to him, there are 90,000 bakeries in the country, and the power outages in these bakeries depend on the residential homes located in the area where the bakery is situated. The increase in dough waste due to power outages occurs while the government has allocated 161 trillion tomans in subsidies for bread this year. Mr. Karami also mentioned that dough waste occurs while the government currently purchases each kilogram of wheat from farmers at 17,500 tomans and provides the flour derived from this wheat to bakers with significant subsidies. The price of bread has increased by 25 percent in ten provinces of Iran. The increase in dough waste also comes at a time when the government had a debt of 104 trillion tomans for purchasing wheat from farmers as of the beginning of this month, and the government continues to buy wheat from farmers. The issue of summer electricity shortages in Iran this year has affected a wide range of sectors, from industries to pharmaceuticals, agriculture, households, and bakeries. Mr. Karami states that when water and yeast are added to flour, it can no longer be stored and must be baked into bread; therefore, when the dough is in the mixer, it must be cut and enter the baking stage, but with power outages, it is no longer possible to turn the dough into bread, as the dough sours and must be discarded. He further stated that another problem is that bakeries are given flour in exchange for the bread they sell, and when the dough has not been turned into bread and no card has been swiped in the payment terminal, it is estimated that the flour has not been consumed, leading to a reduction in the bakery's flour quota. Iranian media also reported on August 27 that in recent days, the price of bread has increased by 25 percent in ten provinces.