This summer, burgers cost more, but farmers say they are not making money

“I know I’m not going to be a millionaire running a bakery,” says Phil Clayton.

We’re talking at the bakery he runs with his wife, Tina. It’s only 10am, but the surgery has been going on for nine hours.

Clayton said it’s “absolutely not true” that the bakery made more profit because of inflation.

In May, households were paying 2% more for a loaf of bread than a year earlier, according to the CPI.

But in April, farmers were receiving a 0.3% discount for wheat, the main ingredient, according to API figures.

A 2% increase in consumer prices is less than the 3% increase seen in the overall CPI index.

Clayton said he would not regret increasing the price by 10p to 20p.

“My responsibility is to make sure all these lots are paid,” he says, referring to his 30-strong team of bakers, delivery drivers and Saturday workers employed at the cafe next to the bakery.

Clayton points out that the extra money consumers pay goes towards rent, wages, national insurance, delivery fuel and increased flour prices – much of which comes from the region’s farms.