Cost of bread making in central Samsun and an economic analysis of the factors affecting bread prices

Abstract

Most of the bread making units in the central district of the province of Samsun are small-scale and have so-called "black-oven" technology. On average. 500 kg of flour is processed daily in a bakery and in doing so only 37.3 percent of the total daily capacity of the bakery is utilized. Bread sold at kiosks, small grocery stores and in markets makes up 62.5 percent of total bread sales. The rest is sold directly by the production units. The production cost of a 250 gr loaf at bakeries is 12,848 TL and this figure reaches 15,098 TL when the marketing costs are included. The major share of the bread making cost goes on flour (57.5% of the total cost) followed by labor (19.8%) and heating (9.5%). In econometric analysis it was found that flour price has the most significant effect on bread prices. CPI and wheat produced in the previous year are the other factors which have considerable effects on the price.