Even Privately Run Bakeries in Cuba Are Rationing Bread
Faced with an ongoing flour shortage
The private bakeries are restricting the number of items each customer can purchase.
HAVANA TIMES – The line of people extends along both sides of the street. It grows longer on one side of the street, with more people joining as the morning progresses. The scene is almost identical on the other side. Residents from different parts of the city crowd outside a privately run bakery on Céspedes street in downtown Sancti Spíritus. “Right now, they’re only selling bread,” says an elderly man who has traveled here from the city’s Kilo 12 neighborhood.
The flour shortage and rolling blackouts have impacted many private businesses who need it to produce cookies, breads, desserts and pizzas. Some have found it necessary to restrict how much any one person can buy. On Tuesday, the bakery was limiting each customer to five items. Some of those who knew of the restriction beforehand brought along several family members in order to fill their shopping bags.
“I have never seen this. I thought this only happened in state-owned bakeries,” said one woman. “Resellers show up with their brothers, sisters, children and even grandchildren to stock up.” Despite the discomfort and the sun that was beginning to sting her skin, she remained in line. She complained that the state-run bakery in her neighborhood had put up a sign saying “there is no bread because there is no flour.” Not even the “low-quality government bread,” which she uses to feed her chickens.
While the state charges just 75 centavos for a small bread roll, a bag with four better quality rolls goes for 200 pesos at private businesses. Meanwhile, a medium-sized loaf with a hard crust at a private bakery in Sancti Spíritus can be had for between 100 and 130 pesos, while a bag of breadsticks can go for as much as 250. Current prices reflect an increase of between 15% and 25% compared to December 2024, according to data compiled by 14ymedio.
Note: Most Cubans earn under 4,000 pesos ($12 USD) a month and many pensions are under $5 USD.
A 25-kilogram sack of imported Turkish flour costs from 9,000 to 10,000 pesos on the open market but suppliers are only willing to sell it in bulk. Small bakeries are struggling and would rather not buy large quantities of a product without knowing if it will produce a nice, crusty loaf.
“I live in Olivos and for a while bakers would hawk their wares in the neighborhood. You you would buy directly from them, almost fresh out of the oven,” explains José Pascual, a retiree who also had to go to the privately owned bakery downtown on Tuesday due to a bread shortage in his area. “They say it’s very difficult to get flour but the power outages also impact them. The bread often spoils once it’s in the oven because the electricity goes out.”
Most of the province’s privately owned bakeries use electric ovens due to a shortage of liquified natural gas, which would be more reliable and easier to use than wood or coal. “In my neighborhood there’s an individual who, until recently, baked bread using an oven on the roof of his house. For 85 pesos you could get a decent-quality medium-sized loaf,” adds Jose Pascual.
The bakery has been closed for several weeks. “The bread was getting sour because of the blackouts.” The aroma of freshly baked bread no longer wafts through the retiree’s neighborhood. Instead, some local residents can be seen heading out early towards the city center to get in line in front of the bakery on Cespedes Street.
Translated by Translating Cuba.