CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines - Whoever suggested that Filipinos should switch to eating bread in the face of the rising prices of staple rice should think again.
Bakeries in Cagayan de Oro have started selling pan de sal at P2.50 per piece as the cost of flour and wheat continue to rise in international markets.
The days of P1.50 for a plain pan de sal is over, according to local bakery owners.
Ed Dychauco, owner of Pots and Pan, said Cagayan de Oro bakery owners tried to absorb the rising costs of flour and wheat for several months but eventually have to increase the prices of their products.
"I naturally have to adjust the prices of the items that I'm selling. Sulod sa pila ka bulan, ako jud gi-try og inat pero sa dihang di na makaya, there is no other recourse except to increase the price," Dychauco said.
According to Dychauco, his cheesy pan de sal now sells at P2.75 from P2.50; a small ensaymada at P7 from 6; a big loaf bread for P31 from P29 a month ago.
Even the price of chiffon cake, an all-time favorite in family gatherings, has increased from P300 to P320, Dychauco added.
Brenda Comique, whose family operates a small bakery chain in Barangay Bulua and Barra in Opol town, said it's not just the price of flour that has increased but sugar, lard, and margarine as well.
Comique said they have already increased the prices of their products since January, much earlier than other bakery owners.
"Three years ago, the price of one sack of flour is only P600. In the past two weeks alone, it has increased to P955 per sack," Joan Gonzaga, owner of Panjo's Bakeshop in Divisoria, said.
Bakery owners agreed that they have adjusted the price of their bakery products by 50 centavos to P3 each.
They said only the price of pancho remain steady at P2.50 and the mongo-flavored bagels remain unchanged at P3.50 a piece.
Rosalie Pelegrino, Dychauco's assistant, said their customers are not complaining but they are limiting the pieces of bakery products they buy to suit the budget.
Two weeks ago, high-end restaurants in the city have also increased the prices of shrimp, rice, meat and even softdrinks as early as December last year.
Restaurant owners are agonizing whether to impose hefty increases for fear that this would ultimately drive their customers away.
"We may change our menus so the quality of our food will not be compromised," Eileen San Juan of the VIP Hotel Said.
Even local Chinese restaurants like Red Moon in Hayes corner Velez streets are complaining.
"Prices of tufo have gone up from P5 per cube to P5.50 per cube," Red Moon operations manager Michelle Palacio said.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the current increase is due to high prices of wheat, which comprised 80 per cent in the manufacture of flour.
"Our monitoring (of the international market for wheat, the raw material for flour,) shows that the price per bushel increased to $24.35 for May deliveries, which means further price increases," Philippine Baking Industry president Simplicio Umali Jr. said.
"The price for June wheat deliveries was pegged at about $15 per bushel, which is still higher than the $10.86 set in December," he said.
"We can only hope that the flour millers could temper price increases just as the bakeries are doing," he added.
Umali said the rising prices have resulted in a 10-percent decrease in total domestic bread consumption last month compared to the same month in 2007.
In a Bloomberg report last Friday, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said Beijing turned down a request to supply wheat, adding to the crisis on the worsening shortage of staple foods that has already driven grain prices to records.
"China politely turned us down, saying they also need to stock up," Favila said.
"We've alerted all our trade attaches to find out where we can source wheat, so as not to cause shortages," he added.
The same report also said that wheat futures in Chicago reached a record $13.495 a bushel on February 27 forecasting a global demand will exceed output for the seventh time in eight years. The contract traded is at $9.4725 last Friday.
Wheat reached $601 per metric ton this month, owing to increased in demand, especially from China and India.
Being the world's fastest growing economies, China and India have increased their appetite for wheat-based products such as bread, spaghetti, and other pasta products, the report said.
With an annual wheat harvest of anywhere from 70 to 80 million tons, the US has allotted 33 million tons for exports, some of which are sold to the Philippines, the same report said. - Sun.Star
Bakeries in Cagayan de Oro have started selling pan de sal at P2.50 per piece as the cost of flour and wheat continue to rise in international markets.
The days of P1.50 for a plain pan de sal is over, according to local bakery owners.
Ed Dychauco, owner of Pots and Pan, said Cagayan de Oro bakery owners tried to absorb the rising costs of flour and wheat for several months but eventually have to increase the prices of their products.
"I naturally have to adjust the prices of the items that I'm selling. Sulod sa pila ka bulan, ako jud gi-try og inat pero sa dihang di na makaya, there is no other recourse except to increase the price," Dychauco said.
According to Dychauco, his cheesy pan de sal now sells at P2.75 from P2.50; a small ensaymada at P7 from 6; a big loaf bread for P31 from P29 a month ago.
Even the price of chiffon cake, an all-time favorite in family gatherings, has increased from P300 to P320, Dychauco added.
Brenda Comique, whose family operates a small bakery chain in Barangay Bulua and Barra in Opol town, said it's not just the price of flour that has increased but sugar, lard, and margarine as well.
Comique said they have already increased the prices of their products since January, much earlier than other bakery owners.
"Three years ago, the price of one sack of flour is only P600. In the past two weeks alone, it has increased to P955 per sack," Joan Gonzaga, owner of Panjo's Bakeshop in Divisoria, said.
Bakery owners agreed that they have adjusted the price of their bakery products by 50 centavos to P3 each.
They said only the price of pancho remain steady at P2.50 and the mongo-flavored bagels remain unchanged at P3.50 a piece.
Rosalie Pelegrino, Dychauco's assistant, said their customers are not complaining but they are limiting the pieces of bakery products they buy to suit the budget.
Two weeks ago, high-end restaurants in the city have also increased the prices of shrimp, rice, meat and even softdrinks as early as December last year.
Restaurant owners are agonizing whether to impose hefty increases for fear that this would ultimately drive their customers away.
"We may change our menus so the quality of our food will not be compromised," Eileen San Juan of the VIP Hotel Said.
Even local Chinese restaurants like Red Moon in Hayes corner Velez streets are complaining.
"Prices of tufo have gone up from P5 per cube to P5.50 per cube," Red Moon operations manager Michelle Palacio said.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the current increase is due to high prices of wheat, which comprised 80 per cent in the manufacture of flour.
"Our monitoring (of the international market for wheat, the raw material for flour,) shows that the price per bushel increased to $24.35 for May deliveries, which means further price increases," Philippine Baking Industry president Simplicio Umali Jr. said.
"The price for June wheat deliveries was pegged at about $15 per bushel, which is still higher than the $10.86 set in December," he said.
"We can only hope that the flour millers could temper price increases just as the bakeries are doing," he added.
Umali said the rising prices have resulted in a 10-percent decrease in total domestic bread consumption last month compared to the same month in 2007.
In a Bloomberg report last Friday, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said Beijing turned down a request to supply wheat, adding to the crisis on the worsening shortage of staple foods that has already driven grain prices to records.
"China politely turned us down, saying they also need to stock up," Favila said.
"We've alerted all our trade attaches to find out where we can source wheat, so as not to cause shortages," he added.
The same report also said that wheat futures in Chicago reached a record $13.495 a bushel on February 27 forecasting a global demand will exceed output for the seventh time in eight years. The contract traded is at $9.4725 last Friday.
Wheat reached $601 per metric ton this month, owing to increased in demand, especially from China and India.
Being the world's fastest growing economies, China and India have increased their appetite for wheat-based products such as bread, spaghetti, and other pasta products, the report said.
With an annual wheat harvest of anywhere from 70 to 80 million tons, the US has allotted 33 million tons for exports, some of which are sold to the Philippines, the same report said. - Sun.Star
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