‘Fried-food nation’ grapples with more expensive local cooking oil
09/10/2025 (Business Mirror) - The steep rise in cooking oil quotations driven by price hikes in copra stoked fresh worries about its potential impact on consumers in the Philippines, dubbed a fried-food nation.
The sustained surge of copra prices stirs fears that it would ripple through the value chain, according to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).
“The Philippine coconut industry is at a critical juncture. If not addressed urgently, the rising costs of copra and coconut oil could strain the operations of processors and ripple into widespread food inflation affecting every Filipino household,” the PCA said in a statement.
Citing data from the agency’s Trade Information and Relations Division (TIRD), the PCA noted that the national average farmgate price of copra reached P58.10 per kilo as of March 31, more than double the level seen in the same period last year.
Millgate prices have also soared as they reached a national monthly average of P75.34 per kilo last month, exceeding the peak triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict in March 2022.
The agency raised concern over the effect of copra price hikes that translated to “alarming” retail prices for Refined, Bleached, and Deodorized Coconut Oil (RBD CNO), commonly used as cooking oil, which currently ranges from P172 to P182 per kilo at the millgate level.
The PCA said major domestic suppliers reported a company price of P168.83 per liter, with a suggested retail price of P173.90 per liter. These figures are causing significant concern for ordinary Filipino households and the food manufacturing sector, it added.
To address this continued surge in prices of domestic copra, cooking oil, and other coconut products, the PCA convened industry players and stakeholders from the coconut oil milling, refining, desiccating, and oleochemical sectors.
Among the proposed resolutions on possible strategies to mitigate the risks associated with the soaring coconut oil prices was an intensified monitoring of export activities and re-evaluation of biofuel blend increase.
The PCA said several stakeholders proposed a temporary suspension of the scheduled 1 percent increase in the coco-methyl ester (CME) biodiesel mandate, which is set for October 2025.
They advocated for an immediate dialogue with the National Biofuels Board (NBB) to assess the impact of the increased blend on domestic coconut oil supply and pricing, suggesting a potential temporary adjustment to prioritize cooking oil availability for consumers.
The industry players also sought to leverage the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Strategic Utilization of the Social Amelioration and Welfare Program (SAWP) in identifying specific programs within SAWP that could be implemented to prop up coconut farmers and fast-track increased coconut yields.
PCA Administrator and CEO Dexter Buted noted that the agency would act through its data-driven policies and strengthened partnerships with the private sector and government agencies.
“The coconut industry is too vital to the Philippine economy to be left at the mercy of volatile market forces,” Buted said.