Price guide on Noche Buena items to be released in mid-November —DTI

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Tuesday that it will release the price guide for Noche Buena items by the middle of November.

The department said that 237 items will be covered by the price guide, noting that such products will not be subjected to price control.

“Sa kasalukuyan, hihintay pa natin makumpleto 'yung ating listahan. Ito ay sumasakop ng mga 237 items…so mga produkto na nilalagay natin sa price guide for Noche Buena. So gusto ko lang ilinaw, tayo po ay hindi naglalagay ng SRP or price control sa mga produktong ito,” said DTI Fair Trade Group supervising head Assistant Secretary Agaton Uvero at a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing.

(Currently, we are waiting for the list to be completed. This will cover 237 items for Noche Buena. I just want to clarify that we don’t implement SRP or price control on such products.)

“Ito po ay basehan lamang, para ang ating mga konsyumers pagdating ng Pasko ay marunong pumili at magkumpara ng presyo. Inaasahan natin na ilalabas natin ito mga middle of November," he added.

(This is just a basis to help our consumers in choosing and comparing prices this coming Christmas season. We are expecting to release this by the middle of November.)

Further, the DTI said that half of the covered Noche Buena items are not expected to have price hikes.

“Mahigit kalahati naman dito so far, base sa aming nakalap na presyo sa mga manufacturers, eh hindi naman nagtaas ng presyo kumpara sa nakaraang taon. May mga iba naman nagtaas ng less than 5%. Kaunti lang 'yung nagtaas ng more than 5%,” said Uvero.

(Based on the information we received from manufacturers, more than half of these items will not see a price increase compared to last year. Some items are expected to increase their prices by less than 5%. So it’s only a few items that will see a price hike of more than 5%.)

The Noche Buena Price Guide in 2023 indicated there were 152 out of 240 product lines that saw price increases.

The price guide for last year’s Christmas covered ham, fruit cocktail, cheese, keso de bola, mayonnaise, all-purpose cream, sandwich spread, pasta/spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, elbow macaroni, tomato sauce, and salad macaroni — food items which are usually served during the Noche Buena or Christmas Eve meal. —KG, GMA Integrated News