'SHRINKFLATION'

PSA monitors practice of shrinking products, but keeping price

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday that it is monitoring how rising inflation could affect the size of or quality of products in order to keep prices the same —a concept called “shrinkflation.”

“‘Yung concept ng shrinklfation makikita natin sa restaurants, cafeterias so dito natin tinitignan,” PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said at a press briefing.

(The concept of shrinkflation can be seen in restaurants, cafeterias. So this where we are looking.)

Shrinkflation is defined as the practice of businesses of downsizing their product while the price remains the same amid rising production costs.

Mapa said he has “instructed already our data collectors to look… whether they observed a reduction in terms of the volume of cooked food in the restaurants and cafes.”

“Sa ngayon, wala pang report na may substantial concern dito (For now, there are no reports of substantial concern about it),” the PSA chief said.

“We will provide update kung may napansin kaming concept of shrinkflation (if we see that the concept of shrinkflation is happening),” he said.

An Agence France-Presse report said that many bakers are shrinking the size of pandesal to cope with higher inflation. 

Lucito Chavez, president of the Philippine Federation of Bakers, said thousands of bread makers were reeling from the higher cost for raw materials, most of which are imported.

Likewise, economist-lawmaker Joey Salceda said bread would be hardest hit by "shrinkflation," where the size of a product gets smaller but the price stays the same.

Inflation clocked in at 6.4% in July, its fastest reading since October 2018 when inflation was recorded at 6.9%, amid the rise in the prices of food particularly fish, meat, and sugar as well as increase in land, sea, and air transport fares. 

The purchasing power of the Philippine peso also saw a decline as the value of P1 in 2018 was equivalent to only 86 centavos last month. 

On the other hand, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that the government is committed to ensuring food security and affordability, and reducing transport and logistics costs to arrest a further rise of inflation and protect the Filipino consumers. —LBG, GMA News