The National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. appealed on Sept. 26, 2008, to retailers to decrease the price of pork to encourage consumers to buy more pork.
Hog federation president Albert Lim Jr. said the hog industry is suffering from a slump in farm gate prices while, ironically, retailers are still selling pork from P170 to P180 a kilo. Lim said that with farm gate prices hovering at about P85 a kilo, the retail price at the markets should only be from P140 to P150 a kilo.
"Our cost of production is high and farm gate price of oversized hog is only P70 to P72 a kilo," Lim stated.
The hog federation has been asking the Department of Agriculture to monitor meat prices in the wet market and supermarkets, which continue to spiral despite a slowdown in pork consumption.
