Prices of several Noche Buena or Christmas products have increased, according to a price guide released by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday, Nov. 22.
Of the 240 shelf keeping units (SKUs) included in this year’s Noche Buena Price Guide, 152 items posted price increases. Around 35 percent or 83 SKUs registered up to five percent hike.
Moreover, prices of 37 SKUs went up by six to 10 percent and 32 SKUs hiked by more than 10 percent.
DTI Consumer Protection Group Assistant Secretary Amanda Nograles said the increases were mainly due to “the increasing prices of raw materials, packaging materials, labor, power and distribution cost, according to the manufacturers.”
On the other hand, 21 SKUs lowered their prices, while 37 SKUs maintained their original prices from last year.
SKU is the technical term used by stores to identify and categorize specific inventories by brand or product type.
The latest price guide covers products such as ham, fruit cocktail, keso de bola, cheese, sandwich spread, mayonnaise, pasta or spaghetti, elbow macaroni, salad macaroni, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and all-purpose cream.
“These prices are the suggested retail prices by manufacturers for their products. The way this will operate, if there are retailers that are selling higher than what the manufacturers have specified, and our monitors are able to detect this deviation, we will call the attention of the manufacturers so the manufacturers will help to take care dealing with the retailer selling their products higher than their suggested retail price,” DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual said.
“This is not like SRP, where DTI takes action against the retailer by giving a letter or notice of inquiry, for example,” he added.IMT
