Bakeries prepare for Ramadan when business picks up around iftar time.

Bakeries in Jeddah are readying for the holy month of Ramadan with arrangements in place to meet the high demand on bread during the holy month.

Walid Al-Khawariji, director general of the public institution for wheat mills, declared the institution’s readiness to meet the demand stating that a new package of 45 kg of wheat will be introduced for the first time this year.

The institution is responsible for distributing wheat across the Kingdom. “The institution adds the beneficiaries’ shares by 10 percent if the demand decreases ahead of the peak periods of Ramadan and Haj season,” Al-Khawraiji added.

The daily production of the local mills covers the country’s consumption. Nevertheless, the institution holds a strategic stock in warehouses estimated at two and a half million wheat bags, a sizable portion of which is kept in Makkah to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of pilgrims during the Haj season.

Al-Khawraiji told Arab News that the wheat consumption this year is expected to reach 2.6 million tons with an increase of 100,000 tons over last year.

Electronic bakeries in Jeddah will increase their production of baked products as well as local and eastern sweets by 35 percent.

Ali Al-Shehri, owner of Al Jaze’ Bakeries in Jeddah, said there is high demand for baked goods in the Kingdom, particularly the thin crust known as sambousik.

Mahmoud Al-Alawi, a baker, told Arab News that individuals and centers usually buy large quantities of the crust and sweets in preparation for the holy month. Al-Alawi explained that the demand peaks in the last week of Shabaan and the first days of Ramadan.

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