Despite pricey inputs, 2023 seen better for bakeries

Filipino Chinese Bakery Association Inc. president Royce Gerik Chua on Monday expressed hope that 2023 would be a better year for the local bakery industry, with such optimism driven by the further reopening of the economy and easing of pandemic-induced mobility curbs.

“We are hopeful that it will get better because this is the first year that the economy has opened up – face masks are not really required anymore and we can travel to anywhere we want,” Chua told reporter on the sidelines of a press conference for the group’s “Bakery Fair 2023” scheduled next month.

“Even our borders have opened and foreigners can come visit here. So, we hope those will drive up the economy,” he added.

However, Chua said that challenges remained on the horizon this year, citing high consumer prices and supply issues concerning sugar and eggs.

“In bakeries, [the] most important to us are flour, sugar, eggs, salt and yeast. Those are the things that we need in order to make (our products),” Chua said.

“The ones greatly affected among us are the small bakeries because they have smaller production volume, so their ingredients cost more,” he said further.

In line with this, Chua said they were holding the three-day bakery fair to showcase the latest technologies and trends in the industry, as well as provide attendees with helpful lessons on how to set up or expand their operations.

Earlier last month, two other bakery trade groups expressed similar difficulties involving the supply and local prices of sugar and eggs.

Philippine Baking Industry Group president Jerry Lao — whose group includes makers of popular brands Gardenia, French Baker, Marby, Uncle George’s and Tiffany’s — had told the Inquirer  that they were  grappling with the prices of eggs for more than six months.

Lucito Chavez, president of Asosasyon ng Panaderong Pilipino, which is composed of community bakers, expressed the same sentiment to the Inquirer when sought for comment.

Both Lao and Chavez lamented that the prices of eggs have increased from P155 to P160 per tray in 2021 to the current price of P215 per tray.

As of Tuesday, a medium piece of egg was selling for P8 to P9 in Metro Manila markets, higher than the P6 per piece recorded at around the same time last year, according to the market monitoring report of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Meanwhile, refined sugar is selling from 87 per kilogram (kg) to 110 per kg, while washed sugar costs anywhere from P80 per kg to P95 as of the same day, according to the same DA report. Based on the DA’s previous reports, these were priced at P65 per kg and P55 per kg, respectively, during the comparable period in 2022.