Egg Price Increase To Affect Baking Industry

According to the Philippine Baking Industry Group (PhilBaking), recent egg price increases may soon push local bakers to make cost adjustments and raise the prices of cakes and other pastries such as mamon, ensaymada, sans rival, silvanas, and egg pie.

“The baking industry is greatly affected by the recent increases in egg prices. But this has been going on for more than six months,” PhilBaking president Jerry Lao said.

“In cakes, we use more eggs than cake flour. Cakes, cupcakes are greatly affected,” Lao added.

Meanwhile, Asosasyon ng Panaderong Pilipino president Lucito Chavez, with a group of community bakers, said they are “struggling” with the prices of eggs and sugar.

“We are still costing on the price changes in eggs, sugar, cooking oil, and yeast,” Chavez said.

“You can’t raise prices multiple times. You can only raise it once or maybe twice a year,” Chavez added, preferring a one-time price adjustment to avoid pushback from the public.

Both Lao and Chavez said egg prices have increased from ₱155 to ₱160 per tray in 2021 to the current price of ₱215 per tray.

Chavez noted the price hike of eggs was due to higher input costs on feed and logistics by livestock growers.

Aside from the price increases, Chavez expressed a more pressing concern about the supply of eggs, urging the government to ensure a sufficient supply for the baking industry.

“Our biggest fear is on the supply, as there were rumors six months ago that there will be a shortage because of problems in the production side,” Chavez said.

Since last year, the Marcos administration has struggled to keep prices down and ensure a sufficient supply of key food commodities such as sugar and onions.

Source: Inquirer.net