March 12, 2007

Philippine milk prices seen to rise
 

Philippine milk consumers should expect a series of increases in prices of dairy products due to the slowdown in production of milk solids in Australia, one of the country's major dairy exporters, reports the Business Mirror daily.

Nestle Philippines Inc. (NPI) is among those who will jack up costs on its milk and milk-based product line as CEO Nandu Nandkishore said prices of milk solids, the main raw material for liquid processed milk, has gone up to US$3,400 per tonne from last year's US$2,000 per tonne.

He added they have already added 5 percent to their prices in February and will still have a few increases in the remainder of the year.

But they have another worry--the decreasing consumption of milk by Filipinos, noting per capita consumption has dropped around 10 percent or 15 percent over the last five years from 21 litres to 18 litres.

Nandkishore said Nestle is thus embarking on several campaigns to raise the Filipino consciousness on the capacity of milk to improve health.