The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) revealed the prices of noche buena products increased during the holidays.
“This is due to the increasing price of the raw materials that our products have. This includes the packaging and some ingredients of the products,” Deolly Roque, DTI Consumer Protection Division chief said in an interview with TIMES.
She admitted that the suggested retail prices of some products are a little expensive compared to the previous year. “Some products have increased their prices, but the increase is not high,” she said.
Based on the DTI XI monitoring, the increase in the prices of noche buena products ranges from seven to thirteen percent.
Ham is among the products, which increased its price to 13% due to the African Swine Fever (ASF) in the country.
Roque also said that most of the products maintained their prices.
“The prices of some of our noche buena products in the market is still in the SRP (suggested retail price). No changes were made in the SRP from the downloaded prices of the DTI head office last October. The SRP will be maintained until the end of the year. However, it is a little expensive compared to last year,” she said.
Some products like mayonnaise, macaronis, and salad creams have maintained their SRPs, while products like pasta and hams have increased a bit, she said. Roque advised the consumers to be wise in purchasing products for Christmas.
“Check the expiration date. You can compare the prices in the list we posted in the grocery areas. We posted them, the list of SRPs to help you in deciding which one to buy,” she said.
“Live with what budget you have. There are those products maintained their SRPs, and you can purchase them depending on how much budget you have. We still can celebrate Christmas happily with enough food. We don’t need to buy more. We can make it a simple gathering for Christmas while being wise,” she said.
