said.
"We expect demand for bread to increase, particularly in the two weeks of Christmas [sic], by as much as 50%" Philippine Baking Industry Group President Simplicio P. Umali, Jr. said in a phone interview late last week.
Bread, he said, is commonly used to stretch out a budget-conscious menu and also becomes a staple during the holidays as it complements seasonally popular keso de bola and ham.
"Demand will exceed supply, [but] prices will not increase," Mr. Umali said. "We are looking at reducing prices by November, but we still have to compute. We are getting clear indications that flour prices are [indeed] declining."
The Philippine Association of Flour Millers said in late October that ex-mill prices of hard flour, the type used for pan de sal and loaf bread, were cut to P925-P940 from P957 per 25-kg sack, reflecting the dip in wheat prices in the global market.
A 600-gram loaf bread costs P56 in Metro Manila, October data from the Trade department show. Pan de sal, meanwhile, costs P2.50 to P3.50.
This is another good news because after the fuel roll back now it's the flour.. A lot of people will be happy again because it is common here in the Philippines that we have pan de sal for breakfast but because of the high cost of pan de sal people change their breakfast menu to tapsilog which means rice with egg topings but not all have this for breakfast others stick on with pan de sal although it is expensive and smaller in size than before. And it is good news because holiday season is coming, most of people prepare some bread together with ham and cheese while others bake cake or other pastries.