The Department of Trade and Industry on Tuesday reported that a total of 195 brands of various Noche Buena items have increased their prices, 32 days before Christmas.

The DTI-Consumer Protection and Advocacy Bureau said effective Wednesday, it will release the price guide of Christmas food items that have raised prices ranging from one to more than 10 percent.

These include brands of ham, fruit cocktails, queso de bola, cheese, sandwich spread, mayonnaise, pasta or spaghetti, elbow macaroni, salad macaroni, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, and creamer or all-purpose cream.

"The price guide details were surveyed by the DTI-CPAB from Noche Buena product manufacturers. The manufacturers stated that these are their prices until the end of the year. Since these products are not regulated, some manufacturers may have already implemented the price guide prices prior to the guide's publication," the bureau said.

"Retailers may have different prices because of the non-regulation of the prices of the Noche Buena products — but this is where free market competition comes into play."

Of the total, 195 out of 223 stock-keeping units or SKUs, 50 manufacturers have raised their prices from 1 to 5 percent; 51 raised 6 to 10 percent, while 94 brands surged their pricing by more than 10 percent.

Noche Buena products are not categorized as Basic Necessities and Prime Commodities under the Republic Act 75181, as Amended by RA No. 10623, the CPAB clarified.

The bureau said it is in constant dialogue with BNPC manufacturers and seasonal products such as the Noche Buena products to ensure that consumers can access low-cost staples in the markets.

On the other hand, the DTI-CPAB said that to date, they have received notices of adjustments for a total of 55 SKUs (25 SKUs Food, 29 SKUs Non-Food), or 25 percent of the 218 SKUs in the bulletin price adjustments, from 15 manufacturers of BNPCs.

The CPAB said the increase is due to the high cost of imported and local materials, packaging materials and overhead charges.