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Bread is further increasing in price in Mumbai up to Rs 5 a pack, days after milk rates have been raised by Rs 2 per liter, in another hit on household budgets. In another series of hikes in household budgets, bread rates have also risen up to Rs 5 a pack in Mumbai, days after milk was made more expensive by Rs 2 per liter.

Major brand Modern Bread hiked up the price for some of its variants on May 16. The price of a 400-gram sandwich loaf has increased from Rs 40 to Rs 45; whole wheat bread has gone up from Rs 55 to Rs 60 per loaf and multigrain bread from Rs 60 to Rs 65. Hikes are also coming at the smaller loaves.

The industry sources have blamed the increase on rising transportation costs as a result of recent petrol and diesel price hikes, the cost of imported packaging materials, and a low rupee, which has caused raw material prices to increase. The competition in the market is soon to be a fierce one, with other brands like Britannia and Wibs to follow suit soon.

The double whammy of the other two million essential items — milk and bread — has kept Mumbaikars on their toes about their expenses in the kitchen. Retailers say they are getting good pushback from customers, but that there's little they can do because of rising costs for inputs. The development will further aggravate the pressures on the everyday cost of living in the city due to the ongoing inflationary surge.