23 February 2023, Manila, Philippines – Filipino consumers at the local level were still plagued by high prices, as the year-on-year inflation rate for food items (excluding beverages) sold in sari-sari stores (neighborhood stores) reached 15.62% in January, according to the latest research released by Packworks in collaboration with Fourthwall, a sociocultural research firm. The figures obtained from Packworks’ Sari IQ business intelligence tool show Sari-sari store’s inflation rate is 4.4% greater than the official food inflation rate of 11.2% reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in January 2023. (more…)