Gardenia Bakeries (KL) Sdn Bhd has announced that it will increase the retail price of some of its products from 1 September 2022. This will see a price increase of between 20 to 70 sen for 53 Gardenia products, covering a variety of breads, buns, rolls, spreads, and yellow noodles.

Based on a price update notice to Gardenia retailers, some of the products that will go up in price include the 400g Gardenia Original Classic loaf, which will cost RM3 (up from RM2.80), the 600g Gardenia Original Classic Jumbo loaf, which will increase to RM4.30 (from RM4), and the 400g Breakthru Bran & WheatGerm loaf, which will cost RM3.50 (up from RM2.90).

In a statement, Gardenia said that the price increase was inevitable given the significant hike in the cost of ingredients. These include high protein flour, which is now 25% more expensive, and egg white powder, which now costs more than 100% of its earlier price. 

Gardenia further remarked that other factors, such as the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the flooding in Shah Alam last December, the global supply chain crisis, as well as the implementation of the RM1,500 minimum wage, have also severely affected its operations, and led to its decision to raise the price of its products.

“Increasing the price of our products has always been the absolute last resort when all other efforts have been taken to maximise the efficiency of our operations,” Gardenia noted, adding that the new prices were decided after several months of conducting a thorough review and analysis and exploring available options. 

Meanwhile, Gardenia highlighted that it is maintaining the price of the 500g Gardenia Bonanza Keluarga bread at RM2.75. “Per 100g comparison, the Gardenia Bonanza Keluarga is also cheaper than the [Gardenia] Original Classic loaf,” it further said, adding that the bread is also more suitable for larger families. 

At the end of last year, Gardenia had already increased the price of its breads, including the Gardenia Original Classic, Gardenia Bran & WheatGerm, Twiggies, Fluffy Buns, and Puazz buns. It cited the rising cost of raw materials and freight charges as the reasons for the price increase. 

(Sources: New Straits Times [1, 2], The Star)

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• Gardenia Bakeries (KL) Sdn Bhd
• Gardenia Bread
• Gardenia Products