By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter
PRICE INCREASES for grocery items sold in supermarkets have slowed down amid easing inflation, according to a local industry group.
Steven T. Cua, Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association president, told BusinessWorld via mobile phone that while the group has seen price hikes for some items, “the increases have slowed down.”
“Fewer suppliers have served us notices of price adjustments on a monthly basis. Producers begin to realize that they have relatively reached the apex of marketable or consumer-acceptable prices for their products without sacrificing a drop in sales. You call this price elasticity,” Mr. Cua said.
“The respite is timely and welcome. Consumers can’t take the continuous battering of increased prices of basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs),” he added.
Headline inflation eased to 6.1% in May, the lowest print in a year, amid easing food and transport prices. This brought the five-month average to 7.5%, still above the central bank’s 2-4% target and 5.5% forecast for this year.
Mr. Cua said the group has not seen price increases for grocery items, aside from notices of hikes for biscuits and snack foods amid the end of the current school year.
“Some manufacturers have taken the tack of decreasing their product size either without a price increase or coupled with a lower price increase. Some consumers notice this double whammy and shift to other brands or alternatives. Both suppliers and buyers are attuning product offerings and preferences given the shifts in the pricing landscape,” Mr. Cua said.
With this, consumers could maximize their shopping budget as more product suppliers are implementing more marketing promotions such as bundles and price-offs, he said.
“This is the suppliers’ way of easing prices for a limited duration or for a limited volume of stocks they want to push out. It is their way of selling the slower-moving items in their inventory; not necessarily those about to expire. These offer the consumers honest-to-goodness great deals during this time when you have to squeeze every centavo out of your every peso,” Mr. Cua said.
He added that consumers could also opt for imported products as these have already implemented discounts amid lower sales.
“Some importers have begun to experience a slowdown in sales of their product due to perceived excessive price jumps,” Mr. Cua said. “As a result, some of these suppliers are now offering temporary price discounts of as much as 10%,” he added.
In May, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it does not expect any increases in the suggested retail prices (SRPs) of BNPCs despite pending price hike petitions from the manufacturers of items such as canned sardines, milk, and salt.
“You have seen that the price increases have already slowed down. Because of what is happening in the country, of course we need to give some comfort to the consumer, a little breathing room,” Trade Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo said in May.
The DTI issued the latest SRP bulletin on Feb. 8, which implemented price increases from 45 centavos to P7 for 76 stock keeping units (SKUs), while the prices of 141 SKUs were unchanged from the prior SRP bulletin issued in August last year.
The grocery items that had price hikes were tomato sauce, processed milk, 3-in-1 coffee, noodles, bread, detergent soap, canned meat, candles, and condiments.
