Only nine stock keeping units (SKUs) moved in the latest Suggested Retail Price (SRP) Bulletin released by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Wednesday, Jan. 17.
Trade Assistant Secretary and Consumer Protection Group (CPG) acting chief Amanda Nograles said the latest SRP covered price movements of only three SKUS of coffee and six SKUs of salt.
“We want to clarify that for coffee, the movement was a reduction in volume with a corresponding reduction in price, as well as a reduction in volume but no movement in pricing,” Nograles said.
“We want to emphasize that there are still nine brands of coffee in the SRP that did not move. But for the SKUs that moved, they were in the lowest bracket, so the increase is just a parity in pricing (with other brands). Consumers are at liberty to exercise their preference,” she said.
One additional SKU is currently under ongoing assessment. The prices of the remaining nine SKUs of coffee have not increased, with no notifications for price adjustments filed, Nograles added.
For salt, six out of 19 SKUs have increased their prices by an average of 4 percent, the CPG said.
It noted that most of the SKUs that were allowed to adjust their prices have pending petitions dating back to 2018.
The DTI may implement a series of price adjustments in 2024 for items that are still undergoing assessment. Currently, the DTI is reviewing 54 price petitions from manufacturers.
“We are actively discussing with manufacturers regarding the pending price adjustment notifications for the 54 SKUs. Note that 154 or 71 percent of the 217 SKUs listed in the SRP Bulletin are not notified of price adjustments, and their prices will remain unchanged. Our consumers have the power of choice,” said Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.
Nograles said bread, canned meats, canned sardines and milk were among the items that the DTI was carefully assessing at the moment.
The DTI, she added, may allow a certain degree of price adjustment but “it is unsure if manufacturers will be given the price adjustment they seek.”
Bread makers said they have already submitted a petition for P2 to P2.50 price hike for budget breads.
The Philippine Baking Institution (Philbaking), a group of bread companies producing Pinoy Pandesal and Pinoy Tasty as its corporate social responsibility (CSR) project, said it has refiled its petition for upward pricing last Tuesday.
On the other hand, the Philippine Association of Flour Millers, Inc. (PAFMIL) said flour prices have not move since 2023, although the price of other ingredients for bread such as yeast, sugar, salt, and logistics costs have increased.
The ex-mill price of hard flour is at P900 to P960 per bag while soft flour at P800 to P860 per bag. In 2023, prices were at least around P50 more per 25-kilogram bag and even much higher in previous years, said PAFMIl executive director Ric Pinca.
