Do your shopping now, traders urge consumers

Consumers must start buying Christmas goods in order to avoid the expected increase in prices, the supermarkets association said.

Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association (PAGASA) president Steven T. Cua said that prices of some Christmas related goods already went up in anticipation of increased demand.

The price of fruit cocktail in supermarkets already went up 10.5 percent. The association said there may be an increase of four percent to nine percent in December for Christmas products.

Likewise, Cua advised consumers to be creative in their purchases and not limit it to ham, Vienna sausage, queso de bola, chestnuts, goods whose prices are expected to rise.

Earlier, Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Peter B. Favila assured the public that this would be a happy Christmas because not only will prices be stable, some may even go down before the end of the year, he added.

“We all agree on one thing, that we will have a happy Christmas,” Favila said. “We can look forward to more stable reduced prices this year.”

For agricultural products, Favila said it would be dependent on the weather. Based on predictions, it was reported that there would be four more strong type typhoons for the year.

With regards to milk, Favila said the price has already gone down by 10 percent and is expected to remain low until year end.

With regards to sardines, sellers said there would be more problem for sardines because fishing would be halted by November due to the cold season. This would make cod fish more expensive thus pushing the prices of canned fish.

The price of processed meat may not increase anymore because manufacturers have already increased by 10 percent to 12 percent.       

Meanwhile, bakers said the price of bread will not increase until December and may even go down if flour prices go down. Flour millers said there is a big possibility that the price of flour will go down by November.