The trend in the industry has been a two to three-percent growth every year, said Ricardo Pinca, executive director of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (Pafmil). "But this year, the economic crisis may take its toll on the business."
The industry, which its raw materials (wheat), from the United States and other countries, has to contend with a weak peso and the diminishing purchasing power of most Filipinos. The end-products of flour – such as bread, cakes, and noodles – appear to have been relegated to the bottom of the people’s grocery list since they only have money for the basic necessities in life.
Pinca told The STAR that many flour milling companies have been operating at only 50 percent of their capacity.
A source, asking not to be named, said a major player in the industry has been seriously considering the closure of its business or laying many of its workers.
"But still, the industry has grown," Pinca pointed out, adding that since the flour milling industry has been liberalized more than a decade ago, it has registered growth rates way below the level of "prosperity" attained when the government monopolized it.
"During the period before then President Marcos liberalized the industry, we enjoyed 25-percent growth rates every year," Pinca said. "But, when other businessmen recognized the progress of the industry, they came in, creating competition in the process which has intensified now."