Local bakers to sell cheaper, branded pan de sal

MANILA, Philippines - Local bakers said on Thursday they will be selling cheaper branded pan de sal in supermarkets, groceries and convenience stores starting next month.

Philippine Industry Baking Group (Philbaking) president Simplicio Umali said starting Oct. 11 they will be selling the Pinoy pan de sal which is only P25 per pack of 10 pan de sals. The 10 pieces is 250 grams. Community bakers sell pan de sal at P35 per ten piece pack at 250 grams.

Umali said the bakers will be subsidizing the Pinoy pan de sal similar to what they are doing for the Pinoy tasty. Other bakers participating are the Filipino Chinese Bakers and the Federation of Bakers.

“This cheap, delicious and nutritious Pinoy pan de sal is a result of the cooperation of bakers in the Philippines. This will be available in supermarket, groceries and community stores at a cheap price,” Umali said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has issued a warning against flour millers and a certain sardine brand to justify their high prices or planned price increase.

Trade Undersecretary for Consumer Welfare Zenaida C. Maglaya said millers have yet to reflect the lower global wheat prices while 555 sardines of Century Foods International announced they would like to increase their price by P0.30 to P0.40 per can by Oct. 1 after implementing a P0.75 per can price hike a few weeks ago.

Maglaya said they have already asked the 13 millers to submit their costing in order to justify their decision not to roll back prices in spite of the lower wheat prices in the global market.

“They should not wait for DTI to get mad and issue a show cause order,” Maglaya warned millers. In the past, the flour millers have already been accused of profiteering but the case was dropped.

Maglaya said flour prices are at P900 to P920 per bag but there are some wholesalers selling at P880 per bag. Wheat price is $400 per metric ton in August from a high of $520 per metric ton in July. Even with the significant decline, it is still not reflected in local flour prices.

For sardines, Maglaya said their monitoring showed that mid priced 555 sardines is the leading brand in the country today. She said that although there is no price control in place, they would like to see if the price hike is justifiable. Otherwise, the firm can be guilty of overpricing.

In fact, Maglaya said that the first tranche of sardine price adjustment is already in question because the submitted fish cost of the firms is different from the costs monitored by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic resources. Instead of the P.75 per can adjustment, based on BFAR prices she said it should only be P.25 to P.30 per can.

Sardine prices are from P11.10 per can to P13.00 per can.

Also, Maglaya said there will be no more increases in the price of noche Buena products like pasta and ham until Christmas time. The last adjustments were made last month by some mayonnaise, cream and pasta brands.