The absence of pao, poie or unddo from the plate of any Goan food is unimaginable. It is a part of tradition, culture and taste habit, which has carried on generation after generation since the Portuguese rule in Goa. Every morning and evening the poder (the man who delivers in his bicycle and the pillion being the big basket, covered with blue plastic sheet) honking at 7.30 is music to many ears who wait eagerly to buy the hot pao, poie or unde. Digging deep into the functioning of this industry, surprising elements emerged which reveal that this industry is gradually changing and people in Goa have not realised it as the baked breads are readily available to them as per their routine.
Traditional Goan bakers are struggling to make ends meet and are facing a lot of difficulties in sustaining the age-old family business that has become synonymous with the Goan way of life. The new generation is not inclined to continue their traditional business and many have migrated to European countries and the United Kingdom. “Many traditional bakers have in fact, leased or sold out their bakery to non-Goans and I can imagine it must be 50-60 per cent of them. About 20-25 per cent of traditional bakeries have shut down. It is not a good sign and the original Goan bakery from Portuguese era is one way to decline sharply,” said Alfonso (Bond) Braganza, Secretary, All Goa Association of Bakers.
He added that the situation of bakers is very different from the earlier days. “Most of the bakeries run by Goans used to use wood fire. Nowadays, wood fire is expensive and almost termed ‘illegal’ by new laws. Even toddy, which was used to ferment the dough, has been replaced by yeast. Now most of the bakery owners have migrated to other countries and they have sold out their unit to non-Goans. Earlier we used to maintain files and contact numbers of bakers but it has all changed and those old bakers cannot be traceable,” added Alfonso Braganza.
President of the All Goa Association of Bakers Agapito Menezes, who is based in Divar Island, which has two bakeries, said, “In Goa, about 500 bakeries are registered, out of which about 25 per cent have already closed down in last five years. The younger generation is not coming into business as it is not profitable as compared to other professions. Most of the bakers in Salcete have closed down. Even toddy is not available for fermentation. The subsidies which were also worked out during the late Manohar Parrikar government never materialised. The traditional Goan bakers have rented out their ovens to non-Goans and the quality is compromised.”
Peter Agnelo Fernandes, President of All Goa Bakers and Confectioners Association, mentioned that this business was run by Goan families traditionally. “With less skilled workers available, the business gradually started shrinking. High prices of raw material, shortage of skilled labourers and high establishment cost, salaries and commissions, shortage of fire wood has crippled the industry. The bakers’ children these days are qualified and some have graduated in different streams. Their family status increased but the financial status remained the same. So many children were forced to migrate to jobs outside Goa and abroad leaving behind their old parents, due to which bakeries were leased to mostly non-Goan mainly due to age and health reasons of the traditional bakers.”
Peter Agnelo Fernandes, who is planning to give a memorandum to the State government, added that since many of the bakeries are leased out to non-Goans who have less skilled knowledge and as they do not use traditional methods, “The charm, quality and flavour is getting lost. This is mostly because they are only after making money. In the olden days bakers baked only twice a day systematically mixing, fermenting and hygienically proofing and baking with proper percentage of yeast. But now for fast buck these new bakers have no time to rest the dough nor the workers, and they now bake three times a day. Now it will be very difficult to revive the old traditional flavour until and unless bakers’ children take up the profession in a very modern setting. If not, this will be gone forever.”
Partner in Café Central Ravindra Gayatonde and treasurer in All Goa Association of Bakers said, “We are not considered as traditional bakers but I can surely say that they are in a very bad state. There is hardly any profit to save and earnings are on a daily basis without savings for the next day. I feel this situation can only be improved by increasing the price. We need to realise that every other commodity prices are going up but it becomes very sensitive issue when the traditional bakers increase their price. Also, there are two groups among the bakers. One says to increase the price the other says not to increase the price. During the late Manohar Parrikar regime lot of promises were made but nothing resulted.”
Anthony Fernandes, owner of 56-year old Central Bakery at St Estevam which bakes traditional breads, biscuits and cakes said, “I have two sections in our factory. One is the traditional Portuguese sections and the other one is the modern one. For tradition bakery I use very expensive wood which we bring in from Maharashtra.” Anthony Fernandes used to produce 6000 loaves per day but since the pandemic he is producing 3000, a drop by 50 per cent.
He added that earlier only Goans were in this business but now many non-Goans have entered it. “I was working for MRF and after retirement, I took up this business from my parents who have passed away. Our traditional business is dying down. The workers in my bakery are from Belgaum (Karnataka) as I am not getting any workmen from Goa. In fact before the pandemic I had six but now I am left with only three workmen. One of my sons is doing Hotel Management course but I am not clear whether he will take up this business or not. It is his choice.”
When Herald tried to dig in more data on the traditional Goan bakery industry from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Department which grants operating licence, sources from the FDA replied, “Since the licence is issued under general manufacturing with bakery scope, the data in our system will search the keyword bakery which will include everything, including modern bakery.”
