“Liberty and baked bread” are all people really need, an old French proverb says. One of those is about to get more expensive as bakeries raise baguette prices to pass on surging grain costs.

“We have no choice,” said Michel Galloyer, whose baguette was voted the best in Paris in 2010. “Wheat prices have exploded. We’ll have to pass on 4 to 5 cents when flour prices start to rise, probably in February.” 

Wheat prices almost doubled in the past 12 months on NYSE Liffe in Paris, with March-delivery wheat closing at 251 euros ($336) a metric ton on Jan. 14, after a drought in Russia and floods in Canada and Australia wiped out crops. The dozen “Le Grenier à Pain” stores that Galloyer runs in Paris plan to raise the price of a baguette by 5 cents next month to 1.15 euros. 

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-16/french-bakers-set-to-raise-baguette-prices-as-wheat-futures-almost-double.html