No price hike but pandesal protein content to be cut

By Ayen Infante

08/29/2008

Instead of increasing the price of pandesal, small bakeries will opt to produce the bread from lower-protein flour that is cheaper by P20 per bag, Philippine Association of Flour Millers executive director Ric Pinca said.

Pinca told reporters the move of local flour millers was in response to the request made by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to help small local bakeries by providing discounted flour for the making of pandesal.

The new flour formulation which is high in fiber but low in gluten content should be limited for pandesal baking only, he added.

Out of the 12,000 bakers all over the country, only 8,000 are registered with the DTI while another 5,000 are undocumented. Majority, or 70 percent, are considered small bakers.

The pan de sal flour will be sold at P950 per bag or about the same price of the regular flour variety in March this year. Regular flour, due to price adjustments of wheat flour in the world market last June, is now priced at P970 per bag.

Last March, the price of wheat flour in the world market was about $500.32 per bag and went higher by 20 percent at $599 per bag in June. Wheat flour is currently priced at $570 per bag.

The current trend may, however, translate to lower price of breads and pandesal in November or toward the year end with price of flour going down during this season. The new flour formulation for pandesal is also expected to go down by then, he added.

Pinca stressed those unregistered bakeries are not allowed to enjoy the discount. Bakers can buy as much as 35 bags per single transaction equivalent to one week supply.

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