Filipinos won’t find relief from expensive rice and petroleum products anytime soon, but at least one basic commodity won’t contribute to the country’s crippling inflation.
A group of bakers, mostly Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal makers, announced Friday there will be no price increases for their baked goods this Christmas season.
In a meeting with the Trade department, members of the Philippine Baking Industry Group made known their commitment to maintain the current price of P35 per loaf of Pinoy Tasty and P21.50 per 10-piece pack of Pinoy Pandesal until the holidays are over.
The group decided to maintain prices in response to the Trade department’s call for manufacturers to refrain from increasing the price of basic commodities this holiday season.
Despite the rising cost of ingredients, PhilBaking said it continues to absorb the additional cost brought about by the increasing prices of raw materials.
But come January, Pinoy breads will increase prices per loaf for Pinoy Tasty and per 10-piece pack for Pinoy Pandesal, said PhilBaking president Paolo Valderama.
“While other products have gone up, Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal will remain at P35 and P21.50, respectively, until end of December,” Valderama said.
“Based on the major costs, such as flour, sugar and yeast, there has been an average of 6 percent increase due to the impact of these factors,” he said.
Since breads are not high on sugar, the only ingredient that will cause the immediate increase in bread prices is flour, but the Trade department assured consumers that the price of Harinang Pinoy will remain stable until Christmas.
Bakers are also expecting a P45 increase in flour prices, including Harinang Pinoy, once the price hold-off is lifted by December.
Since April 2016, Pinoy breads have not moved up.
Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal are products of a joint project between the Trade department and the bakers' group as an integral component of the industry’s corporate social responsibility to provide accessible and affordable bakery products to consumers.
The project triggered the proliferation of many other reasonably-priced loaves and bread in the market.
White bread composes 12 to 15 percent of the total bread consumption in the Philippines.
Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal are available in the entire Luzon and key cities in the Visayas.
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