geisha.kowlessar@guardian.co.tt
Chief Executive Officer of National Flour Mills Ian Mitchell says the company has been looking at using sweet potato and cassava as alternative sources to wheat flour but it may not be economically viable to produce at this time.
Speaking during a recent television programme Mitchell said, “Cassava flour is twice as expensive when processed as wheat flour. While it is an option and it is something we want to look at because it gives us that security of growing that component of what we already eat at home, the cost to grow cassava, to extract the starch and process it into a flour is just significantly expensive at this time,” Mitchell explained.
Additionally, NFM’s chairman Nigel Romano said if cassava has to be used as a source it must be “reliable and that quality is assured.”
Moreso, getting the necessary quantities are also critical to ensure that the market is properly served, Romano added.
Further, Mitchell said other types of flour simply do not perform as wheat flour, which is another determining factor in using substitutes to wheat.
On Tuesday, the NFM announced a 33 per cent increase in the wholesale price of flour, with a suggested increase averaging 28 per cent on the retail price of flour.
The company explained that while it has been able to secure sufficient wheat stocks to guarantee that Trinidad and Tobago has an adequate supply of flour for the remainder of 2022, the cost of wheat to NFM has increased by a further 49 per cent 2022, due to the ongoing war between Russia and the Ukraine.
The company added that to reduce losses in its flour division, it had no choice but to increase its flour prices.
According to Mitchell during the company’s exploration to use cassava as another source for flour, it has had discussions with Costa Rica and as far as Ghana, apart from T&T.
