use XML::Simple;

my $filename="file.xml";
my $xml = XMLin($filename);

## produces the output below
print Dumper($xml);

## this bit isn't right because the xml isnt in
## an array but I dont know how to reference
## the products and put them into an array
my @products = @{$xml->{product}};

foreach my $item (@products) {
    Print "Department: $item->{department}\n";
    Print "Manufacturer: $item->{manufacturer}\n";
}