February 19, 2025
MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) will not impose a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for pork in the next two weeks pending further consultations with industry stakeholders.
Instead, meat producers, traders, and retailers agreed during a dialogue with DA officials to review their respective cost structures as part of efforts to lower retail pork prices.
“MSRP is off the table in the next two weeks, depending on the cost structure. What the [agriculture] secretary wants is to lower retail prices without issuing an MSRP,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa, also the DA spokesperson, said in an interview on Tuesday.
READ: DA mulls imposing maximum SRP for pork in March
One of the cost components under review is the fee charged by “viajeros” or traders, which is estimated to add P80 to the retail price of pork per kilogram. De Mesa said retailers have nothing to do with elevated pork prices.
Striking a balance
“We all agreed that high pork prices are a short-term problem that should soon be resolved,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement on Tuesday following the consultative meeting with industry stakeholders.
The DA convened the meeting to identify factors driving up pork prices and determine whether or not to impose an MSRP to bring these down.
“We are trying to strike a balance between the interests of consumers and those involved in the pork industry,” Tiu Laurel added. “The clamor to bring the price of pork down is coming not just from consumers but from retailers as well; their sales are going down.”
The DA flagged the huge disparity between the prices of locally produced pork and imported frozen pork, noting that local pork is sold at more than P400 per kg while imported pork is cheaper at P250 per kg.
Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura executive director Jayson Cainglet said that pork farm-gate prices—the cost of selling produce between a farmer and trader—have declined to P250 per kg, with some local producers selling their hogs for P240 per kg.
“And since local production has improved, it [the farm-gate price] can also decrease,” Cainglet said.
He explained that the formula for determining retail pork price was to add P100 to the prevailing farm-gate price.
“Right now, if we say the farm-gate price plus P100, it might not accurately reflect the actual retail price. We’re giving everybody a chance to present their actual costs until we arrive at the appropriate retail price,” he added.
The DA earlier hinted at setting the MSRP for pork at less than P400 per kg starting next month.
As of Feb. 15, public markets in Metro Manila were selling frozen kasim from P230 to P290 per kg, as opposed to last year’s P280 to P360 per kg, based on the DA’s price monitoring.
Frozen liempo was priced from P290 to P350 per kg compared with P330 to P400 also last year.