Prices of loaf bread will increase by P2 while those of a 10-piece pack of pan de sal (salt bread) will also be up by P1 effective Monday due to spiraling prices of sugar and other ingredients, two major bakers groups said Sunday.

Leaders of the Philippine Baking Association and the Philippine Federation of Bakery Association Inc.(PFBAI) told the Balitaan sa Tinapayan news forum in Sampaloc, Manila that they have no choice but to adjust prices due to the high costs of ingredients.

Walter Co, president of the Philippine Baking Association, said the price of loaf bread weighing 600 grams will increase by P2 while a 10-piece pan de sal pack will increase by P1.

“The prices of loaf bread and pan de sal are different in bakeries but the formula we are implementing is to increase the price by P2 from the current price of their (bakers) respective prices of loaf and pandesal and we cannot increase more than P2,” he said.

“After the Ondoy typhoon, the price of sugar increased by P19 per kilo. Currently the price of sugar between P50 to P55 per kilo,” he said.

Co added that the prices of flour, oil, eggs and water which are all used in making bread also increased.

Lucito Chavez, vice president of the Philippine Federation of Bakery Association Inc., said bakers need to survive, too.

“Actually, it is okay for us to have smaller profits but we cannot afford to incur huge losses because it will result to the closure of our business,” he said.

Chavez said once the prices of ingredients decrease, the bakers would also immediately implement price rollbacks.

However, several major bakeries in the country said they would not increase prices.

Joan Brences, manager of the Goldilocks branch in Munoz, Quezon City, said all Goldilocks stores nationwide have yet to hike prices of bread products, including cakes and pastries.

“We’ve had an increase in December 1 last year. There are no plans yet to hike the prices of bakery products this soon,’’ she said.

Pan de Manila, famous for its old style brick oven-cooked pandesal, is also not increasing its price for now, a supervisor of one of its branches in Quezon City said.

“Sa ngayon wala pa pong instruction sa amin (We have not received any instruction yet from the management).

Yun pa rin ang presyo namin. Yung maliit na pandesal is P3.00 at yung malaki is P5.00,’’ said the supervisor who asked not to be named.

“Ang increase namin centralized naman. Usually, it’s only P25 cents for pandesal and P1.00 for tasty bread,’’ she explained.

Julie’s Bakeshop has also not raised its bread price, saying it will not be helpful, for now, for its customers.

“In fact, last December we even lowered our prices for slice bread,’’ said Aileen Siblag, OIC supervisor of the Julie’s Bakeshop outlet in Congressional Avenue in Quezon City.

But she admitted that the bakeshop had reduced the size of its bread, including pandesal, to maintain low prices.

On the other hand, Simply Bread and Street Corner Bakery, admitted to have hiked its prices for bakery products by P1 last February 1 following the increase in sugar price.

“It is inevitable to increase the price of our bakery products because of the sugar price hike.

Maapektuhan kasi talaga yun,’’ said Allan Ignacio, OIC manager of Simply Bread in Waltermart, Quezon City branch.

“I believe it is better to hike the price of our products than reduce the quality or the size. Besides, one peso is only a minimal increase,’’ he added.

Ignacio said that its sister company, Street Corner Bakery, which is found in all SM Hypermarts nationwide, also hiked its prices but maintained the sizes of all its bakery products.

Earlier, The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said there was a 15 percent increase in sugar price that reached P60 a kilo from the suggested P52.

While it admitted there is no shortage of sugar in the country, the Department of Agriculture had said that the sugar price hike is attributed to the increase in the country’s sugar exportation quota.