KUALA LUMPUR: From rice to bread. Considered a common staple for many, the recent announcement by Gardenia that it would hike up some of its bread prices beginning Oct 1, has not been met well by consumers.
"We hope they don't raise the price of white bread because that's what people commonly eat. If they need to increase the prices of other items, as consumers, we can accept that, but please don't burden us too much," said Rahimee Md Haza, 52.
Rahimee, who lives in Damansara, said that, to his understanding, most of the products with increased prices are favourites of young children.
"Young children, especially primary school students, love to take small packs of bread to school.
"In my opinion, this price increase will require parents to manage their expenses carefully.
"I believe it won't have a significant impact because the price change is minimal. However, white bread should not be raised; it needs to be controlled.
"As consumers, especially parents, we also need to understand that staple foods worldwide have increased by around 30 per cent, such as wheat, barley and oats. So, Malaysia will inevitably feel the impact," he said.
He added that the price increase of selected Gardenia products that do not include white bread would not have a noticeable effect on couples without children or those whose children are grown.
Meanwhile, homemaker Anisah Saat, 55, said she received a list of price increases involving Gardenia products via WhatsApp this week.
She mentioned that consumers indeed need to adjust to the new prices, but at the same time, the government should help control the situation to prevent it from becoming burdensome.
"The prices of flour-based food in our country also depend on the world market prices. Through reading, we know that basic food items have experienced price hikes worldwide, including wheat and rice.
"This is also attributed to the uncertain global climate, rising import-export costs and the depreciation of our currency.
"Consumers, especially the citizens, may accept it, but we hope there will be controls to ensure that the price increases for food items do not become too significant to the point of burdening people," she said.
It was reported yesterday that several selected Gardenia Bakeries (KL) Sdn Bhd (Gardenia KL) products would experience price increases.
Among the products affected are Puazz Sambal Bilis, Sambal Mackerel and Kari Ayam, Quick Bites Butter Toffee and Red Beans, Quick Bites Cream Rolls, Numee Yellow Noodle, and Numee Keluarga.
The management of Gardenia KL confirmed that the price changes would take effect on Oct 1 after they reviewed the prices of selected products.
However, the prices of white bread, whole wheat bread, and Toast'em bread, which are popular among many customers, will remain unchanged to avoid burdening the majority of consumers.
The company's statement addressed the issue of the price increase of its products that had been circulating on social media.
For the record, the company raised the prices of six of its products by 10 cents to 50 cents on Sept 1 last year.
The price changes involved Gardenia Original Classic from RM2.80 to RM3; Gardenia Wholemeal from RM3.60 to RM4; the Gardenia Toast'em range from RM5 to RM5.50; Gardenia Twiggies from RM1.80 to RM2; Gardenia Waffles from RM1.40 to RM1.50 and; Gardenia Cream Bread from RM1 to RM1.10.
Before that, on Dec 1, 2021, the company also increased the price of the plain white sliced-loaf, Original Classic 400g by 30 cents, while Original Classic Jumbo 600g was raised by 45 cents.