Gardenia KL told to explain price increase

The domestic trade and cost of living ministry has issued a notice asking bread producer Gardenia Bakeries (KL) Sdn Bhd (Gardenia KL) for an explanation of the price increase for 30 items in its bread range beginning Oct 1.

Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh said the notice was issued on Sept 27, and that the company needed to respond as an unreasonable price increase could burden consumers.

"Gardenia needs to respond to the notice within six days because we want to know all the costs involved such as the price of flour used, transport costs, wholesale and retail. The entire supply chain needs to be explained," she said in Kuantan yesterday.

She said the ministry would conduct a comprehensive tally after receiving Gardenia KL's explanation, to determine whether the increase in the price of food items was rational or justified.
 
Fuziah said the ministry could not prevent companies from raising the price of their goods but that it could be controlled through the Price Control and Anti-Profitability Act.

Previously, Gardenia KL confirmed that 30 of its products would see a price increase of between 10 and 40 sen, after reviewing the prices of selected items.

However, the bread manufacturer said the price of white bread, whole wheat (wholemeal) bread and Toast'em bread would remain unchanged to ensure that the increase does not burden the majority of customers.