Bread in one form or another has been the principal food for Man since the earliest times. It is said the first bread ever made was in Egypt, while the best bakers came from Phoenicia. The universality of bread was shared among the Roman, Greek, Egyptian civilizations, and many others.
In times of war, governments rush to protect the people’s bread first. In World War I, the first regulations passed aimed to preserve the bread trade; however, it was not the case in Lebanon in 1915 when General Jamal Pasha introduced a blockade barring the entry of “cereals and wheat” into Mount Lebanon. Since both are raw materials for bread production, the country witnessed its first and worst famine, causing the death of more than 25% of the population.
The market research below conducted on the bakeries industry in Lebanon explores the evolution of the local industry. In the past five years, prices of wheat, a principal ingredient in bread-making slid from $831/bushel by Dec.31, 2012 to $418.5/bushel on Dec.30, 2016.
Against this backdrop, the report assimilates data provided by five local market players, to analyze the country’s supply of ‘bread & other confectionery’ goods, the modern-day market structure for bakeries, and key industry trends. The primary strategies of leading Lebanese bakeries are also highlighted, alongside the main challenges and future plans foreseen to maintain sufficient production of “Bread”, an eternally indispensable product.
For the full report, kindly click on the link below:
Breaking the Bread Market Lebanon’s Modern-day Bakeries
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on September 28, 2017, on page 4.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of Al Akhbar on September 27, 2017, on page 7.