Desert blizzard warnings bring chaos to bakeries in Jordan

People in Jordan, panicked by warnings of fierce snow storms, bought more than 80 million loaves of bread over the past week, bringing chaos and hours-long queues to bakeries, local media reported.

Demand for bread has been eight times its usual levels, Abdallah al-Hamawi, the head of the Jordanian Bakers’ Union, told local news site Ammon on Thursday.

Hamawi said the level of need for the staple was “unprecedented,” adding that bakeries had been working 24 hours a day to try to produce enough.

Local media reported “chaotic” scenes and queues at bakeries across the kingdom, with some shops selling tonnes of bread.

However, much of the bread had ended up being thrown away over the past week, with Al Jazeera capturing footage of street cats sleeping on bags of bread that had been dumped in the street.

Authorities have sought to put an end to the panic-buying, which has provoked ridicule on social media. 

Translation: Breaking news – Bakeries to start buying bread [back] from the people

The excessive purchasing has also led to calls for the government to cancel bread subsidies.

The government had attempted to lift the subsidies last May, but cancelled the plans due to public protests.