Meat processors assure stable prices during the holidays

The local meat processing industry is assuring the public of stable prices of ham, bacon, hotdogs and other processed meat products this Christmas season.

The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) which include big corporate players like San Miguel Foods, Purefoods and RFM-Swift, said prices of hams, bacons, corned beef, and hotdogs have not moved by wide swings over the last four years and this year will not be any different.

According to PAMPI executive director Francisco Buencamino, the cheapest ham product  in the market is the pear-shaped ham selling under P200 per piece of about a kilo.

“This was the same price level of a year ago, and the year before that,” Buen-camino added.

PAMPI is prepared to sell its products in consumer-friendly barangay food terminals (BFTs) set up by the Department of Agriculture across Metro Manila so consumers can avail themselves of processed meat items at prices lower than those sold in regular retail outlets.

“We are glad to learn that big meat processors have committed, as they have done so for the last several years now, to make holiday food items affordable for our consumers this Christmas season,” Yap said.

Earlier, sugar producers committed to keep sugar prices at a range of P36 to P38 a kilo this month, while chicken producers have assured of ample supply during the holidays.

In a memorandum of agreement, the National Food Authority (NFA) along with the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and its subsidiary, the Philippine Sugar Corp. (Philsucor), and the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc. (Confed) had committed to implement the Consumer Sugar Support Program.

Under this accord, Philsucor will ensure supply of around 10,000 bags of sugar, which is equivalent to 500,000 kilos, to help keep sugar prices at P36 a kilo. The NFA will sell refined sugar not exceeding P36 a kilo, in one-kilogram bags with the NFA label, but will disallow single purchases exceeding 10 kilos.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap meanwhile said there would be sufficient supply of chicken despite a minimal spike in retail prices.

He pointed out last weekend that the domestic supply of chicken has stabilized since 2005 and that it was normal for market prices to go up slightly by about three to 10 percent in December as consumers buy more of the commodity for their holiday fare.

Monitoring teams deployed by the Agriculture Department showed that dressed chicken was selling for an average of P115 to P130 per kilo in Metro Manila markets.