San Miguel Beer is set to raise prices of beer between 10 to 15 percent to cope with the high cost of raw materials.

An industry source said that the country’s biggest beermaker was set to raise prices last October 1 but this has been deferred to yet unspecified date.

The source said that SMB is having difficulty in implementing a price hike bacause of the current economic crisis.

In fact, some beer drinkers have switched to hard drinks, which are a lot cheaper than beer.

The company, however, has not yet notified its customers of the new price adjustment but its clients are expecting an average increase of 10 to 15 percent. The last time San Miguel raised prices has resulted in a price adjustment of 25 percent in the price of one beer variant.

An SMB dealer said that historically, SMC increases beer prices every two to three years to cover for the high cost of raw materials.

Definitely there will be a price increase since some dealers were already tipped of the price hike, a dealer said.

Beer prices also differ depending on the establishment.

From the small retailers, the Pale Pilsen costs P20 a bottle but restaurants and bars are charging between P30 to P70 per bottle.