PHILIPPINE bakers expect to grow in the mid single-digit this year, driven by higher demand for generic bread.
Simplicio Umali Jr., president of Philippine Baking Industry Group, said 7-percent growth this year is possible from a flat growth last year.

For next year, the industry is looking to grow by 8 percent, he said.

Umali attributed the growth to the Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pan de sal.

“The historical growth trend of the industry has always been 7 percent, higher than the population growth,” the executive said.

Umali said the biggest challenge of the P8 billion industry is the high cost of ingredients, particularly flour.

“The cost of flour is very expensive,” he said, adding that this resulted in a two percentage points decline in margins.

PhilBaking, Filipino-Chinese Bakers Association Inc. and Philippine Federation of Bakeries Associations Inc. recently launched the Pinoy Pan de sal.

Pinoy Pan de sal, which is a good source of iron and vitamin A, is produced using only the basic formulation. The bakeries use locally milled high-protein enriched flour. Pinoy Pan de sal retails for P25 per 10-piece pack of 250 grams in supermarkets, lower than the prevailing price of branded pan de sal, which ranges from P30 to P40 per pack.

“Initially our target is to produce 150,000 to 200,000 per month, but it could increase,” Umali said.

Among the bakers producing Pinoy Pan de sal are PhilBaking members such as Gardenia, Creative
Bakers, Cindy’s, Uncle George, Marby, MLM (Fortune Bakeshop), FrenchBaker and Sunmaru and some community bakeries.

At present, the industry produces 600,000 to 700,000 loaves of Pinoy Tasty, or about 10 percent of the total market share.

Pinoy Tasty sells for P36 per loaf, cheaper than the branded kind, which is priced between P42 and P45.

Bakers are optimistic that flour prices will drop soon considering the declining cost of wheat in the global market.