DTI studying price increase request for bread, canned goods

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is carefully evaluating the request of several manufacturers of canned goods and bread products for a price increase.
 
Ruth Castelo, the DTI's undersecretary for consumer protection, said that the department is still reviewing the petition to raise Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal's prices by P4, as doing so will significantly burden consumers.
 
“Pinag-aaralan ng DTI. Nanghingi tayo ng additional information sa Philbaking, ang gumagawa nito, para mas kumpleto, mas sigurado ang magiging desisyon natin sa request nila,” Castelo said in an interview on PTV’s public briefing on Friday.
 
(The DTI is studying this. We are requesting additional information from Philbaking, the makers of these products, to ensure that our decision on the request will be justified.)
 
The affordable bread variants Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal were created as part of a corporate social responsibility initiative between the DTI and Philbaking that was started in 2010.
 
Members of Philbaking include top brands such as The French Baker, Gardenia Philippines, Julie's, among others.

The DTI is also evaluating the request of several manufacturers of canned goods to hike the prices of their products. 

“Lahat ng data hinihingi sa manufacturers para masigurado na tama ang presyo at pinakarisonableng presyo para sa consumers natin,” Castelo said.
 
(We are requesting all data from manufacturers to ensure that the prices are right and reasonable for our consumers.)
 
Castelo said canned goods manufacturers’ requests for price hikes range from 50 centavos to P5 to P20.
 
However, she said that the DTI only allows a 10% increase in the prices of basic necessities and prime commodities.
 
The DTI official added that only 30% of products in its suggested retail price (SRP) bulletin can be adjusted. — VBL, GMA News