MANILA — Raw material prices are seen to remain elevated which could influence food prices, a restaurant operator said on Tuesday.

At the company’s annual stockholders meeting, Shakey’s Chairman Chris Po said cost inflation is likely to persist as prices of raw materials were still high.

Po added that while synergies from their three brands softened the impact of high cost inputs, a price increase of 3 to 5 percent was likely should the current trend in raw materials continue.

“We are still experiencing headwinds in terms of cost of raw materials. Industry players have felt the pressure on margins… We see the cost pressure to continue and we will have to look at doing some price adjustments,” Po said.

“Price increases, to consumers, are always seen as a lashing so what we try to do is to always present the value and then pass on some of the price to consumers. Our target consumer has bigger capacity to absorb, but we never want to abuse that,” Po added.

Shakey’s President and CEO Vicente Gregorio noted that consumers have become more value-conscious with the high inflationary development, shifting to healthier options, and have embraced retail technologies even with the reopening of the economy.

Consumers also tend to save up on regular days, and spend on weekends and for special occasions.

“We have seen the consumers have changed a bit. Most consumers have really adopted the digital business and have been ordering online a lot,” Gregorio said.

Shakey’s is optimistic on the economic outlook, with plans of domestic expansion in Northern Luzon riding on the government’s infrastructure and tourism programs.

“Now that the pandemic is behind us, we have every reason to believe that better GDP growth will be the trend for the coming foreseeable future led by the consumer sector,” Po said.

Inflation in the country eased to 6.1 percent in May. However, it remains above the government target of 2 to 4 percent.

• Shakey's says back to profitability with P121 million net income in 2021
• Shakey’s exceeds pre-pandemic sales in first half, net income up 18-fold
• Shakey's net income exceeds pre-pandemic level in 2022

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