Enough flour in coming months, Pafmil exec says

There is enough inventory of flour in the country, an industry group said, despite initial problems with distribution because of the traffic at the checkpoints.

The commodity continues to be delivered to bakeries, food manufacturers, noodle makers and flour dealers and retailers all over Luzon, said a top official of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (Pafmil).

Pafmil said this in an email to Rep. Wes Gatchalian, chair of the House committee on trade and industry. A copy of the email, which was dated March 22, was forwarded to reporters on the same day.

“To reiterate, the local flour milling industry assures the country of enough supply of flour in the coming months,” said Ricardo Pinca, executive director of Pafmil.

“[Our] consumers will continue to enjoy their freshly baked pan de sal, loaf bread, noodles and other bakery products throughout the quarantine period and beyond,” he added.

He said Pafmil had seven member companies, namely: RFM Corp., Wellington Flour Mills, Philippine Flour Mills, General Milling Corp., Liberty Flour Mills, Pilmico Foods Corp.and Universal Robina Corp.

“While there were initial difficulties on product movement due to the long queues of delivery trucks at the various checkpoints on the main roads leading to areas outside Metro Manila, the situation has eased up and deliveries have since been unhampered,” he said.

There is another group of flour millers called the Philippine Chamber of Flour Millers, which has San Miguel Mills, Philippine Foremost Flour Mills, Delta Milling Corp. and Morning Star Flour Mills.

There are 11 other flour mills that are not members of either group.

In total, all 22 flour mills all over the country produce 83 million bags of flour annually, which is roughly 6.9 million bags of flour every month, he said.