Philippine bakeries shrink 'poor man's bread' as inflation bites
Gulf Times
In this photo taken on July 20, 2022, a baker carries trays of the popular breakfast roll 'pandesal' before they are baked at a bakery in Manila.
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.
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 breadmaker 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 (about $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.
