August 15, 2008

Prices of canned and processed meat products in the Philippines is expected to increase later this month, driven by rising raw materials costs.

Philippine Meat Processors Association, Inc. (PAMPI) executive director Francis Buencamino said it has become unavoidable to increase prices.

The price hikes will range some 15-30 percent but whether the full amount will be passed on to consumers by resellers remains uncertain, he said.

Prices of carabeef, a primary ingredient that is usually sourced from India, have gone up by 30-40 percent due to increased demands from other importing countries like Egypt and Malaysia, Buencamino said.

PAMPI in June had announced that its member companies would be increasing prices by some 30 percent in two months.

Buencamino pointed out that some meat processing companies had already jacked up prices by 15 percent in July, with the balance to be added this month.

However, retail prices may not go up because "some supermarkets may decide to absorb all or part of it," he said. "Some processors may be able to absorb increases in raw materials in the interest of holding their costs down," Buencamino added.

PAMPI is composed of 29 member-companies representing 85 percent of the local meat processing industry, including San Miguel Foods Corp., CDO-Foodsphere, Inc. and RFM Corp.

Member-companies produce about 600 million kilogrammes of meat products worth over PHP80 billion annually.