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Ukraine war: Philippine bakeries shrink pandesal also known ‘poor man’s bread’ as inflation bites
- One bakery in Manila has decided to reduce the size of a ‘pandesal’ from 35 grams to 25 grams to avoid raising the 2.50 peso (US$0.04) price
- Inflation in the Philippines hit 6.1 per cent in June, the highest level in nearly four years, as fuel price hikes pushed up food and transport costs
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As the war in Ukraine pushes up wheat prices and a weaker peso raises the cost of imported edible oil, many Philippine bakers are shrinking the size of a popular breakfast roll to cope with higher inflation.
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The slightly sweet and pillowy soft “pandesal”, which Filipinos often dunk in coffee or stuff with cheese, used to weigh 35 grams at Matimyas Bakery, a bread maker in suburban Manila.
But as the cost of local and imported ingredients soared in recent months, co-owner Jam Mauleon gradually reduced the size of the roll – known as the “poor man’s bread” because it is cheap – to around 25 grams to avoid raising the 2.50 peso (US$0.04) price.
She feared that even a slight increase would send cash-strapped customers in her neighbourhood to a rival bakery five blocks away.
“We had to reduce the serving size to survive,” Mauleon said, as children, workers and retirees arrived early to buy rolls baked in a brick oven that morning.
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