Poor consumers are rarely eating bread since prices went up and have relied on daily servings of rice and noodles to endure the coronavirus pandemic, consumer group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) said Wednesday.
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The group observed that micro and small bakeries were badly hit by the crisis and most of them have closed shop.
“Community bakers need support on how they can be able to recover, open and get back to their feet soon. Maybe we can institutionalize rolling stores or mobile Kadiwa stores that sell branded bread as well as the Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal direct to the community,” said LKI president Victorio Dimagiba.
He suggested an innovative program, what he calls “Borrow and Loan Program” in the bread sector. The program means “give and take,” he added.
The program will involve the participation of big players and brands in the bread industry such as Gardenia, French Baker, Sari Roti and Marby as well as flour millers San Miguel, Concepcion, Foremost, and Liberty to extend assistance for the recovery of the bread and bakery industry.
“They should be able to share the rich resources and treasures in this lingering pandemic that hits the micro and small community bakeries in the country,” Dimagiba said.
Big players can share training and expertise, pro bono, to smaller bakers, he proposed.
Dimagiba also called on bigger companies to increase the production and market share of Pinoy tasty and Pinoy pandesal, which are priced cheaper than premium brands. over their own brands.
LKI is also shelving any plea for a price rollback of bread products amid the shutdown and closure of micro and small bakeries.
Hoping that the industry will correct itself, Dimagiba reiterated that as a rule of thumb, bread prices should roll back by P1 for every P40 per bag reduction in flour prices.
The price of premium flour has remained at an all-time low of P720 per bag, from a high of P920 per bag two years ago.
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