CEBU CITY, Philippines – The price of Pinoy Tasty, the low priced loaf bread subsidized by the government, will go up by P2 to P38 once bakers get the approval of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
At the same time all loaf breads may increase their price by P1 to P2 per loaf.
In an interview with reporters, Philippine Baking Group (Philbaking) past president Simplicio Umali Jr. said that the P17 hike in the price of sugar has left them with no choice but to increase the price of Pinoy Tasty.
“The price of sugar moved from P48 to P52 per kilo and now it’s at P65,” Umali said.
According to him, they can’t raise the price of Pinoy Tasty without the prior approval of the DTI because the low priced bread is being subsidized by the government.
Umali said that they have already filed the petition before Christmas but the DTI has asked them to hold off any price increases until after the holidays because sugar prices are already expected to go down.
“The DTI will discuss our petition either this week or next week,” Umali said. When asked what will make them hold off any increase in the price of the Pinoy Tasty, Umali said that sugar prices should drop to P58 per kilo.
However, he said the increase in the price of ordinary loaf bread and other branded bread will continue because aside from the sugar prices other factors of production have also gone up. Umali said that the price of packaging, baking oil or shortening and transport cost has increased.
“Prices of food will go up this year because of the fuel cost and toll fees,” Umali said
Last December Philbaking has already adjusted their prices. President Walter Co has already announced that loaf bread prices will increase by P1 to P1.50 while a 10-pack pandesal is expected to cost P0.50 to P0.75 more.
Flour prices increased from P740/25kg-bag to P780-P820/bag, based on the monitored prices of the Department of Trade and Industry’s National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC).
“In our price adjustment implemented in November, we only factored in the P40 increase in flour prices. We haven’t taken into consideration the P20-hike on 25kg bag of flour implemented again by the local flour millers as well as increases on sugar and shortening,” Co said.