Cost of Gardenia loaf bread up by P1 due to flour price hikes

MANILA, Philippines — The price of the Gardenia loaf bread has risen by P1 to P59.50 due to an increase in the prices of local flour over the past months.

Simplicio Umali Jr., president of Gardenia Bakeries Philippines Inc., said in a phone interview that prices of locally milled flour rose to P930 for every 25-kilogram sack from only P880 last April.

“If flour price continues to go up, we will have to adjust further upward,” Umali said.

Umali said they initially adjusted the price only for the white loaf bread, as this product comprised the bulk or roughly 50 percent of their volume sales. Other products may follow suit, depending on the movements of flour prices.

With the prices of locally milled flour seen to continue rising, Umali said the company has been mulling to look for new sources of flour, including Indonesia and Malaysia, where flour was reported to be priced lower by about P100 per sack.

According to Umali, all of the flour that the company uses comes from the US but milled locally.

He expects the plan to import to push through within three months’ time or so as they have to yet acquire permits from various agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, Bureau of Customs and other relevant agencies.

Should the prices of flour go down while Gardenia is in the process of securing permits, Umali said they would still import flour even if the prices of flour went down.

“By this importation, we can bring in competition for the local millers. With competing flour brands from Asean countries, we can have better pricing from local flour millers,” he added.