As we settle into a new year, it would also seem that asides from the change in calendar, we can also come to expect a change in prices to the goods we consume. It’s no secret by now that popular local bread bakery Gardenia has increased the prices of their products last year in light of higher cost of production, but now, even rival company Massimo is set to do the same.
Massimo to increase bread prices
According to Free Malaysia Today, the price hike was announced via a letter that was addressed to retailers, which lists the current and revised consumer and retailer prices of certain baked goods produced by The Italian Baker Sdn Bhd, who operates the Massimo brand. As per the letter issued to retailers, the revised prices show a price hike of anywhere between 17% to 20%.
The popular 400g White Sandwich loaf went from RM2.38 to RM2.80, recording a 17.6% price increase, while the 400g Wheat Germ loaf went from RM2.48 to RM3.00, recording a 20.9% price jump.
The list of other affected products are as per below:
In the letter, the increase of price was said to have been attributed to the ‘escalation of raw material costs, which have affected the costs of industrial bakery products’. The price increase letter was issued to retailers on 14th December 2021, and went into effect on 1st January 2022, with prices reportedly enforced on 3rd January 2022 as reported by The Star.
Ministry of Trade and Consumer Affairs to investigate the price hikes
However, the news site has also reported that the Malaysian Ministry of Trade and Consumer Affairs will be summoning the company to explain and justify their latest price increases. This was said to be the case as Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Rosol Wahid, expressed concerns over how the newly revised prices may affect Malaysians who have been already struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently, the floods that have affected multiple regions of the West Malaysian peninsula.
“We will call upon the manufacturer of Massimo bread. The Ministry wants to know why the prices have gone up, and what other alternatives are available.”
“This is to help lighten the burden that Malaysians who have been badly affected by both COVID-19 and the recent floods,” he said.
Similarly, the Ministry had also spoken to the manufacturers of Gardenia breads on 1st December 2021, in order to understand their justification for the raising of prices as well. Gardenia breads proceeded to provide an alternative solution by promising to release a new product that would be sold via the previous retail price.
For more news like this, follow us on Facebook!
Also read: Gardenia set to increase prices of its Original Classic bread loaf from RM2.50 to RM2.80 by 1st Dec!
