Bakers Monday announced a P2 increase in the price of loaf (600g) bread and P1 per for pandesal (25g in 10s) to cover for the skyrocketing prices of sugar, eggs and dairy products in the local market.

Current prices of loaf bread range from P48 to P53.50 depending on the brand.

Walter Co, president of Philippine Baking Industry Group (PhilBaking), said that most bakers will start increasing prices Monday next week, February 8, but others have already raised prices effective Monday others as early as last week.

Members of PhilBaking will adjust prices starting next week after they advised supermarkets and outlets.

Community bakeries, on the other hand, will also adjust their prices in the same manner the major bakeries adjusted their prices.

Co stressed that sugar prices have gone up by 60% since its last price selling level. Bakers use between 4 to 4.5 kilos of sugar per 25 bag of flour. Sugar is second biggest ingredient in bread production.

“With the recent 16% increase in sugar prices just this January alone, bakers cannot continue to hold-off any longer and are forced to increase prices by P2.00 for 600g white loaf breads and P1.00 for 10pc-pack pandesal with baked weigh of 25g,” Co said.
According to Co, bakers initially absorbed the sugar price increases in December last year for the benefit of the consuming public as many basic commodities had increased last Holiday season.

Bakers were also optimistic that the government will be able to do something as they expressed their intention to import sugar to contain and bring down sugar prices in the local market.
Unfortunately, this did not take place.

In addition, prices of egg and dairy products have also gone up from P3.80 to P4.30 a piece while milk have increased by more than half to P4,500 to P4,800 per bag from only P2,500 per bag as shortage in milk production looms, Co said. Bakers import milk mostly from Australia and New Zealand.

Leonardo Figueroa of the Philippine Federation of Bakers Association Inc. (PFBAI) said, “Some of our community bakery-members have already started their price adjustment this week to cope with the spiraling cost of ingredients particularly sugar.”

“In the case of small bakeries, they will just reduce the size and weight of their pandesal as they can’t adjust their prices on a per piece,” Chito Chavez further added.

This increase in bread prices does not consider any increases in the prices of flour. Bakers are hoping that flour prices will keep stable in the coming months in order to avoid any further price increases.

Co added that flour millers have advised them in January of a price increase in flour although there was no definite date yet.