Filtered By: Money
Money

Bakers seek hike in the price of pandesal


A bakers association is looking to hike the price of regular pandesal amid the rising cost of raw materials.

In Mariz Umali’s report on “24 Oras” on Monday, Asosayon ng Panderong Pilipino Director Princess Lunar said that they sought to increase the price of pandesal from P3 to at least P4.

“Pwede po kaming magsara kung talaga pong wala na po kaming mapapaikot na puhunan para po sa aming negosyo. Ito po kasing aming maliit na negosyong ay hand-to-mouth ang aming pagpapaikot dito,” Lunar said.

(We can shut down our operations if we no longer have the capital to run our business. Our small business is a hand-to-mouth operation.)

“Ang kinikikita po namin sa araw na ito ay yan din ang gagamitin namin para pambili ng materyales, pagpapasahod sa mga tao,” she added.

(What we earn today is also what we will use to buy materials and pay our workers.)

Lunar said that a sack of flour rose to P1,200 – P1,300 from P1,000 last January.

She noted that a sack of sugar now sells at P3,000 – P3,300, a sack of salt at P350, a kilogram of yeast was P250 – P300, and a drum of oil was 4,200 to P4,500.

To bear the rising cost of ingredients and still sell pandesal at P2, the bakeries have decreased the size of their pandesal from the previous 30 – 35 grams to 18 – 25 grams.

“Mawawala na po ang kalidad nito… dahil ito ay magbaba ng timbang at mabilis tumigas,” Lunar said, adding that the price increase in each pandesal would only earn them 50 centavos to P1.

(It will lose its quality… because it will be lighter and will harden quickly.)

DTI and DA

Trade Industry Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said they are still studying if they would approve the proposed pandesal price hike.

“Nakita natin talaga ang pag-akyat ng presyo internationally dahil nga imported and harina na ginagamit natin,” Castelo said.

(We have seen prices increase internationally because we import the flour that we use.)

“Alam din natin ‘yung need at reasonability ng kanilang request. Pero siyempre, mayroon lang tayong mga hinihintay na data kung i-approve ang P4 na request ng bread producers,” she continued.

(We also know the need and reasonability of their request. But of course, we have to wait for the data if we are to approve bread producers' P4 request.)

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture said they were working to address the continuous increase of ingredients used in making pandesal.

“If we strictly base it on cost structure doon natin makikita if it is reasonable na mag-increase sila ng price. We will always look into how to bring down the cost of agricultural inputs,” DA Undersecretary-Designate Kristine Evangelista said.

(If we strictly base it on cost structure, that is where we will see if it is reasonable for them to increase the price. We will always look into how to bring down the cost of agricultural inputs.)

“This is from sourcing. And also, probably subsidies will also be looked into to see kung hanggang saan pwede bumaba ang presyo ng production,” she furthered.

(This is from sourcing. And also, probably subsidies will also be looked into to see to where we can reduce the cost of production.) — Mel Matthew Doctor/DVM, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT