Bread makers ask flour millers to lower price
abs-cbnnews.com | 06/16/2008 1:10 AM
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Bakery associations reiterated their appeal to flour millers to stem the continuing increase in flour prices following an expected price softening in the US, a major source of flour imports.
In a Sunday news forum, called Tinapayan, three bakery groups--Filipino Chinese Bakeries Association Inc., Philippine Federation of Bakers Association Inc., and the Philippine Baking Industry Group--said the cost of wheat is expected to drop in September.
The bakery groups also said the flour millers, most--if not all--of them import from abroad, had lower costs when the peso was appreciating against the dollar.
In May, the Philippine Baking Industry Group wrote directly to the flour millers after learning about an impending P35 increase per sack.
Bakers have been bleeding financially as increases in the sales of their bread products have not coped with the increases in the cost of their main raw material. They said flour prices have shot up by about 60 percent compared to last years' while bread prices have inched by only 25 percent.
They said bakeries have not been able to pass on the additional raw material costs to customers, who are sensitive to price adjustments.
In early June, the bakery groups also wrote to Trade and Industry secretary Peter Favila to intervene and ask the flour millers not to increase their prices in the coming months. Demand for bread is usually up as school season starts.
However, the Philippine Association of Flour Millers countered the bakers suggestion, saying the cost of importing wheat and flour from the US actually went up because of rising fuel prices.
DTI to probe sudden price increases
Meanwhile, the DTI on Saturday said they are investigating 13 companies due to the sudden rise in the prices of their products.
DTI Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said that based on their survey of several markets, three brands of canned goods, two brands of instant noodles, and eight brands of soy sauce increased their retail prices far more than the agency's approved suggested retail price (SRP).
Maglaya said all goods sold in markets and groceries should follow suggested retail prices, and these prices cannot be changed without the DTI's prior approval.
She said the companies manufacturing the said products need to explain their price increases. These companies, she said, could be charged of "profiteering" or price manipulation, a violation of the Price Act.
The DTI also appealed to consumers to watch out for sudden increases in the prices of products in markets, and asked consumers to report them to the DTI hotline 751-3330. -- ABS-CBN News
