…in answer to reports of mildewed bread sold to some consumers
CUSTOMERS purchasing Bakewell bread and tennis rolls that are mildewed or stale is largely as a result of retailers not applying the “first in, first out” method when selling the commodity. This is according to General Manager of Bakewell, Rajindranauth Ganga, who said that his company has a delivery policy of every day and every other day in some areas.
This comment came from Ganga when contacted by the Guyana Chronicle following reports from customers and some bread vendors in the Cummings Lodge area about mildewed products being sold by Bakewell delivery trucks.
According to Ganga, while it is inevitable for flour products to become stale and mildewed, this does not happen two or three days after leaving the oven. According to tests carried out by Bakewell, bread or tennis rolls will take approximately twelve days before they begin to get mildewed, while staleness will be experienced four days after the product is opened.
He further stated that tests are carried out each day on every batch that leaves the bakery so as to have a true feel of customers complaints about products.
Ganga explained that while the company has a return policy, many businesses, especially established businesses operating in Georgetown, take advantage of this offer without considering the financial implications for the company. He lamented that in the case of established businesses, once the proprietors are not available, employees tend to do “whatever they want” thus increasing the amount of returns Bakewell sometimes has to deal with. According to Ganga, Bakewell loses each time products are returned and have to be dumped.
“And what about the possibility of stale or mildewed bread being left on delivery trucks and passed unto other customers?
That is not possible, since the drivers and deliverymen have nothing to gain from such an exercise, and moreover, they have to balance off their books each afternoon in order to clear trucks,” Ganga explained.
Bakewell bakes close to 400 pounds of flour per day, and services more than 3,000 customers countrywide.