THE uptick in local retail egg prices is caused by the “unjustified” mark-up by middlemen and retailers, the Philippine Egg Board Association (PEBA) said.
“When you say that the retail price of eggs is now between P9 to P10 per piece, then it indicates the huge mark-up by middlemen and retailers,” PEBA Chairman Gregorio San Diego told a recent forum organized by the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc.
San Diego pointed out that the current mark-up by retailers, which is about P2 per egg, from the farm-gate price is already “too much.” The prevailing farm-gate price of medium egg is at P6.7 to P7.2 per piece.
“We think that is too much because before from the farmgate price, the mark-up is only [in] centavos. But this time it is more than P2 per egg,” he said.
San Diego disclosed that he does not see the retail price of eggs further increasing because of a so-called “threshold” in the market.
“When the price reaches a certain threshold that consumers cannot afford anymore, retailers cannot increase their prices,” he said. “Otherwise, their stocks would just rot since our products are perishable.”
Price monitoring report by the agriculture department showed that the retail price of medium eggs in Metro Manila wet markets as of January 12 ranged from P7 to P9 per piece.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes