MANILA - Some milk teas, pastries and other sweetened food and beverages may soon become pricier as businesses try to cope with rising costs of raw material like sugar.

Sugar prices climbed to over P100 per kilo due to supply constraints.

What was supposed to be affordable milk tea at Jad Tea'pid milk tea stall in Caloocan will soon become a bit more expensive starting Tuesday.

The price of its medium cup milk tea or fruit tea will climb to P35 from P29 while the larger cup will be priced at P45 from P39.

"Kasi nagtataas mga bilihin like asukal, yung mga pangunahing ginagamit namin sa shop namin... hindi man namin gusto magtaas, kailangan talaga naman magtaas," Jad Tea'pid owner Joylyn Doloroso said.

(This is because prices are rising including sugar, the main ingredient we us. We need to hike prices)

A macarons stall in Cubao, Quezon City will start selling a box of its goodies for P250 from P180 also due to the rising prices of ingredients.

"Mga price increase talaga, medyo affected talaga lahat ng home bakers... yung eggs at yung sugar, yun yung common sa baking industry, ayun po heartbreaking siya," Macaron Ci-Tea owner Marj Macinas told ABS-CBN News.

(We as home bakers are really affected by the increase in common baking ingredients such as eggs, sugar. It's really heartbreaking)

Meanwhile, others still try to cope with the challenging times such as Nak Nam Fu milk tea shop which decided to keep their prices steady to keep their customers.

"Mas maganda siguro na kami magtiis kaysa sa mga customer namin mahirapan. Pag bumili sila ng isang beses, tapos maramdaman nila ay ang taas pala dito, di na sila bibili," Nak Nam Fu Cha milk tea barista Dave Castillo said.

(It's better this way so that the customers won't suffer. Once they buy and they feel like it's too much, then they won't buy again.)

ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT

Sugar is an essential part of our dietary needs and is an essential ingredient in many food items such as juices, sauces, coffee, cakes and desserts, among others, Restaurant Owners of the Philippines President Eric Teng said.

"Sugar is a vital part of our dietary life... Life is sweeter with sugar," Teng said.

This is the reason why the government must help sugar farmers and the industry to produce more sugar locally, he said.

"We need our sugar farmers to out produce our demand and our demand will only keep growing. We need more support for our sugar industry," Ten said.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the country must import for now to immediately address the shortage and rescue business that are slowing down or shutting down production, PCCI chairmain George Barcelon said.

President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr has met with the Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers to resolve the sugar supply shortage in the country.

This is amid the controversial resolution to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar which the Palace had said was illegal. Several Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) officials have resigned due to the issue.

• Ex-agri official defends decision to sign sugar import order sans Marcos approval
• SRA administrator resigns following sugar import mess
• Resolution to import 300,000 MT of sugar 'illegal': Palace

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