After another round of discussions with manufacturers of milk and bread, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announces that Nestle’ Philippines will decrease its suggested retail price (SRP) of its Bear brand powdered milk of 150 grams by P1.00 and that the community bakers will either decrease its “pandesal” by P0.15 per piece or increase its weight of 2 grams per piece.
DTI-Consumer Protection Group (CPG) Undersecretary Atty. Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba also announces that the DTI is closely working with the producers of Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy pandesal to conduct tests on the use of alternative flour brands so they can lower their prices of said products.
Undersecretary Dimagiba narrates, “The DTI has been consistent in its discussions with the industries in persuading them to help the government in assuring the public that market prices of basic necessities and prime commodities are reasonable and appropriate”.
The “pandesal” from community bakeries in the country has a price range of P2.00-P2.50 per piece with a corresponding weight range of 25-30 grams. Mr. Lucito Chavez, Philippine Federation of Bakers’ Association, Inc. (PFBAI) National Vice President and Tinapayan President expresses, “Through the DTI, our organization was made aware of the decreasing LPG prices that prompted us to act immediately. Now I encourage other community bakers, particularly those that use LPG in their operations, to make their move to either bring down their price or add more weight per pandesal”.
Philippine Baking (Philbaking) President Nestor Constancia affirms, “The DTI discussed with us the drop of LPG prices, however, we explained to them that the Philbaking members are using electricity in preparing breads. But we are always in support of the DTI in developing programs that will extend help to consumers, to which we agreed to look for flour brands with lower prices that we can use in our new formulation for the Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy pandesal”. He adds, “We are optimistic about the new formulation for Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy pandesal and expect to be ready with these in the market by the latter part of February with reduced SRPs”.
Currently, the Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy pandesal have the SRPs of P36.50 per loaf bread and P22.25 per 10-piece pack, respectively.
Nestle’ Philippines Senior Vice President Edith de Leon asserts, “Effective 01 March 2015, we are decreasing the SRP of our most saleable milk product, Bear Brand powdered milk in 150 grams, from P51.00 to P50.00. Although there are product costs that hinder us to lower our prices such as the impacts of port congestion, we heed to DTI’s call to help the consumers. In addition, starting 01 April 2015, Nestle’ will provide extra grams in its Bear Brand powdered milk in 320 grams, 900 grams and 1.2 grams at the same prices. This is another assistance that we have developed for consumers that continuously patronize our products”, SVP De Leon says.
Undersecretary Dimagiba reports that his office received a commitment from CDO, a manufacturer of luncheon meat and corned beef brands, that it will not increase its prices. He also reports that his office is still waiting for another discussion with Nissin Monde, an instant noodles manufacturer but expects them to decrease a 55 gram-pack by 10-15 centavos.
On the other hand, the DTI discloses that it will set meetings with flour millers next week to start discussions on the reduction of prices of flour bags to further bring down the SRPs of Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy pandesal.
Undersecretary Dimagiba reiterates, “The DTI continues its strengthened price monitoring and enforcement activities in the market to ensure adequacy of supply and verify retailers’ adherence to the SRPs as mandated by Republic Act No. 7581 or the Price Act”.
When the CPG provided the DTI Secretary the updates on the discussions with the manufacturers, he uttered that he’s pleased on the developments but urged the CPG to continue the dialogues with the manufacturers to ensure that the decline on world oil prices is reflected on the prices of basic goods that Filipino consumers utilize.
DTI Gregory L. Domingo states, “This is good news. Yet, more discussions should be conducted to further understand the factors that affect their product costs as we expect more products to have price adjustments that will result to lower SRPs“.
The DTI, as Chair, has set to convene the National Price Coordinating Council on 05 February 2015 to check on the price and supply of other products under the basic necessities and prime commodities that are under the jurisdictions of the Departments of Agriculture (DA), Health (DOH), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and, Energy (DOE).
Prior to their purchases, the DTI enjoins the consumers to check on the published SRPs for non-agricultural basic necessities and prime commodities at the DTI website http://dti.gov.ph/dti/index.php/price-watch(BantayPresyo-Monitored Prices of Basic Commodities-Monthly Report) and to report retailers that sell above the SRPs at DTI Direct 751-3330 or 09178343330.
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