As Egypt witnesses unprecedented demonstrations, supplying the local market with bread becomes a priority, reports Nesma Nowar As events in Egypt took an ugly turn on 25 January, the local market moved into a state of instability of its own. People started talking about a shortage in supplies of the basic commodities, especially bread. Reacting to government-imposed curfews, Egyptian families started to queue up for government- subsidised bread, buying more than their needs as the country went into a state of chaos and instability. This in turn led to a shortage of bread in the market, leading to an increase in bread prices. Government-subsidised bread sold at five piastres remained at its price. However, there was a huge demand and people stayed for hours in queues in order to buy their needs. But according to one owner of a bakery in Dokki area, the huge demand on bread in the early days of the protests was not because of a shortage in bread, but because of the extended curfew imposed on citizens. "The limited hours available for the citizens to buy their needs forced them to buy all their needs in large quantities." he said. However, he added, since the government allowed the movement of trucks carrying basic commodities during the curfew, flour has been available to bakeries every night. Consequently, bakeries have been able to produce enough quantities of bread which in turn led to its availability in the local market in large quantities which resulted in a reduced demand during the last week. In addition, the Egyptian army started producing 3.5 million loaves of bread each day in the following days of the protests in order to help supply the local market with bread. In the meantime, bread which is produced by private sector bakeries has witnessed a price increase since the protests started. Four loaves, usually sold at LE1, sold at only three per LE1. However, this price hike did not continue for long and the prices returned to their previous levels. "In the early days of the protests, I was struggling to buy the largest quantity of bread I could have because I was not sure if I would find any in the following day. But after that, bread was available in large quantities in the market and I am no longer afraid," said Mohamed Atef.
