Suggested retail prices (SRP) for certain coffee and salt products have been adjusted moderately to reflect higher cost of raw materials, based on the SRP Bulletin released by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
The latest SRP Bulletin indicated an initial list of nine stock keeping units (SKUs), comprising three SKUs of coffee and six SKUs of salt, that have moved prices.
Three of the coffee SKUs include decreases in weight reductions. Two coffee refill brand items reduced its grammage by 2g to 4g and decreased price by P1.5 to P3.25 from 25g at P21.50 last year to 23g at P20 this January; and from 50g at P43.25 to 46g at P40.
A coffee 3-in-1 brand also decreased grammage to 18g from 20g, but retained its price at P4.10.
Meanwhile, iodized rock salt, iodized salt, and refined salt items saw price increases by a range of P0.5 to P2.25 in both 250g and 500g variants.
In a TV interview, DTI Assistant Secretary Amanda Nograles of the Consumer Protection Group said they have approved and released the Letters of Concurrence to the manufacturers of the nine SKUs, where the computations for the price adjustments have aligned.
She noted that the coffee and salt SKUs were last adjusted in 2018 and 2022.
It is up to the manufacturers to update their price lists in supermarkets and grocery stores according to the new bulletin, she added.
The prices for 154 items or 71 percent of SKUs in the SRP Bulletin remain the same for 2024. This means consumers still have more options considering that 154 or 71 percent of the SKU in the SRP Bulletin have retained their prices.
DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual remarked that, in this regard, "consumers have the power of choice."
According to Nograles, 54 notifications for price adjustments are still under assessment, with the final SRP Bulletin to be released this coming March. Approval of price adjustments are done in phases depending on the result of the DTI assessment.
Milk and canned products are included in the pending notices for the price adjustments, she noted, with talks still ongoing with manufacturers. The average price increase is at six percent this year.
Pascual said that the agency is actively engaging with manufacturers on the price adjustments.
Nograles reiterated that only 29 percent of the SKUs in the SRP Bulletin are asking for price adjustments.
She noted that manufacturers have cited increasing prices of raw materials, particularly those that are imported, as the primary reasons for price considerations with the agency.
They have committed to pacing the approval of the price adjustments in order to protect consumers, she added.
DTI reminds the public and establishments that the SRP is applied nationwide for both supermarkets and wet markets.
Consumers are advised to check the weight and price tag of products before purchasing.