Bakers to keep price of 'Pinoy Tasty' at P36

Amid recent hikes in the prices of sugar and flour, bakers have agreed to keep the price of the "Pinoy Tasty" loaf at P36. Philippine Baking Industry Group (PhilBaking) group president Simplicio Umali Jr. said Friday they will "subsidize" the price of Pinoy Tasty as a Christmas gift of sorts to consumers. "Kahit tumaas ang presyo ng asukal at arina ang asosasyon namin ay napagkasunduan na isa-subsidize namin ang presyo ng Pinoy Tasty so hindi namin tinaataas ang presyo noon. Ia-absorb namin ang cost," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. (Even if prices of flour and sugar went up, our group agreed to subsidize prices of the Pinoy Tasty generic bread loaf. We will absorb the cost.) The "Pinoy Tasty" is the cheaper equivalent of branded loaves of bread in the market. Umali said that while they will keep the price of "Pinoy Tasty" at P36 at least during the holidays. Earlier this year, the "Pinoy Tasty" bread loaf was introduced in the market, selling in Metro Manila at P36 a loaf. However, Umali said that while bakers will sell the "Pinoy Tasty" at P36, they may adjust prices of their other products, especially those that use more ingredients. "Ang branded di kaya i-maintain dahil maraming ingredients niya ... magpapatong kami nang kaunti (We cannot absorb the costs for branded products. We will have to adjust their prices)," he said. He hinted the price hikes for other loaves of bread may go up between P1 to P1.50. Without the "subsidy" by bakers, he said the price hikes in flour and sugar would have brought up prices of a bread loaf by up to P8. – VVP, GMANews.TV