Noche Buena food makers urged not to hike prices

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is calling on manufacturers of Noche Buena or Christmas Eve meal items to keep current prices for the holiday season.

“We call on manufacturers, maybe they can opt not to adjust prices for Christmas products this year or if they will adjust, just at the absolute minimum,” Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said during the Laging Handa briefing yesterday.

She added that last year, the DTI was successful in convincing manufacturers of Noche Buena items not to implement price hikes. “This year, we will try to convince them not to adjust prices again,” she said.

She said the DTI is expected to release the suggested retail price (SRP) list for Noche Buena products by the end of next month to early November.

For basic necessities and prime commodities, the DTI published a new SRP list applying to groceries and supermarkets last Aug. 29.

Goods with adjusted SRPs include instant noodles, coffee, milk, condiments, corned beef, as well as non-food items like detergent and toilet soap. Most of the price increases are within the range of P0.20 to P1, except for corned beef, which went up by P2.75.

Castelo said the price adjustments were granted because of “increasing cost in raw materials specially packaging materials like tin cans.” She added that manufacturers have been requesting for price adjustments since 2019, but was not granted due to the pandemic.