Prices of staple food products - including bread, butter and other dairy products - have increased sharply as local producers try to cover costs that have been spiraling due to the global shortage of raw materials and freight expenses brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Both Malta Dairy Products, the company that produces Benna dairy products, as well as the bakery Golden Harvest said they had to increase prices to cover costs from January. The most recent increase in prices was flagged in a Facebook post by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi who wrote that anyone buying essential food items would have noticed “large increases in wheat and dairy products”. He said the weekly €1.75 increase in cost of living adjustment - COLA was not enough to cover people’s basic needs and went on to list increases, ranging from 10c to 83c, in flavored milk ranges, fresh cream, yoghurt and butter. The price of basic dairy milk has not increased. When contacted, Malta Dairy Products Limited said the company had managed to keep the prices of its fresh milk products stable over recent months, during which the costs of feeds on the international markets, as well as other operational, logistical...