AS Christmas draws nearer, prices of over 150 Christmas product lines have become more expensive, according to Trade Assistant Secretary Amanda Nograles.
Simultaneous with the admission of price spikes, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) released a price guide, which according to the agency would somehow deter potential overpricing in view of the higher demand during the holiday season.
Nograles said that out of the 240 Noche Buena items, 83 goods have posted price increases ranging from one to five percent.
In addition, 37 items posted price increases of six to 10 percent, while 32 other products are being sold in the market at a price that is more than 10 percent as compared to last year.
On the other hand, 21 products now cost less as the prices of 34 others were unchanged.
DTI’s Noche Buena price guide covers ham, fruit cocktail, queso de bola, cheese, sandwich spread, mayonnaise, pasta or spaghetti, elbow macaroni, salad macaroni, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and all-purpose cream.
As for ham products, three variants decreased by as much as 12.7 percent, six did not change while all others, except one, kept the increases to a maximum of 3.7 percent.
“For keso de bola, five SKUs decreased by as much as 7.8 percent, two SKUs did not change, the highest increase was at 8.1 percent,” Nograles added.
She added that a total of six mayonnaise and 19 sandwich spread brands kept the increase within five percent; for cheese, while the rest imposed increases ranging from five to 13 percent.
Nograles also took note of 10 brands of pasta and macaroni posting decreases, while the price of 10 brands did not change.
“For spaghetti sauce brands, nine either decreased or did not change prices while seven kept the increase within five percent; while for tomato sauce, five had no change while five kept the increase within five percent,” Nograles said.
For fruit cocktails, increases ranged from 1.3 percent to 6.4 percent. For all-purpose cream, one brand is being sold at a lower price as compared to their price tag last year.
Based on the mock price guide, the price of ham ranges from P169 to P898.50 depending on size, while fruit cocktail prices range from P57.72 to P298.
Prices of keso de bola range from P210 to P445 depending on size, while the prices of cheese range from P47.15 to P420.
The mock price guide also shows that mayonnaise prices range from P24.70 to P245.85, while sandwich spreads have prices from P27 to P263.60.
The prices of pasta or spaghetti range from P25.50 to P113; P23 to P124 for elbow macaroni and P36.50 to P123 for salad macaroni. Prices of spaghetti sauce range from P23.55 to P103; tomato sauce from P15.50 to P92.25 and all-purpose cream from P36.50 to P59.95.
While DTI conducts price and supply monitoring activities for Noche Buena items during the fourth quarter of the year to guide consumers in buying these products, the agency maintained that Noche Buena products are not categorized as Basic Necessities and Prime Commodities under Republic Act 75181, as Amended by RA 10623.
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