DTI imposes price caps on Christmas feast groceries

THE Department of Trade and Industry has released suggested retail prices (SRP) for items likely to be consumed for the traditional Christmas meal, including ham, cheese, canned fruit, pasta and sauces.

The list, dated Oct. 13, covers 216 items classified by stock-keeping unit (SKU), a system of tracking inventory, which are likely to be purchased for Christmas celebrations, particularly the dinner known as the “noche buena.”

The price caps include 38 SKUs of ham by brand and product type; 12 of fruit cocktail; 13 of cheese; 26 of sandwich spread; 19 of mayonnaise; 11 of a domestic variety of Edam-type cheese known as queso de bola; 20 of pasta; 28 of pasta sauce; and 19 of tomato sauce, among others.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the items where price increases have been noted generally tend to be premium brands.

“Those that increased are the high-end brands and only on special products like premium hams and queso de bola, fruit cocktail and mayonnaise,” Mr. Lopez said in a mobile message.

“But basic, regular and mass-based brands of ham, queso de bola: NO price increase,” he added.

Among pasta and sauces, only the premium brand Del Monte has adjusted prices upward, he said, while equivalent brands from RFM Corp. and Universal Robina Corp. kept prices steady.

He noted that some items like ham tend to be discounted closer to Christmas. —