Bread manufacturer asked to justify price increases, says deputy minister
KUANTAN: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry has issued a notice asking bread producer Gardenia Bakeries (KL) Sdn Bhd (Gardenia KL) to provide an explanation regarding the price increase of 30 types of its bread range from Oct 1.
Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh said the notice was issued on Wednesday (Sept 27) and the company needed to respond within six days, 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.
Fuziah said this after attending the Tanjung Lumpur State Constituency Mobile Rahmah Sale at the Pinggiran Putra People’s Housing Project (PPR) here Thursday (Sept 28).
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She said the ministry would carry out 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 added that the ministry could not prevent a company from raising the price of its goods but it could be controlled through the Price Control and Anti-Profitability Act.
Previously, Gardenia KL, in a media statement, confirmed that 30 of its products would see a price increase of between 10sen and 40sen, 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.
During the Mobile Rahmah Sale programme on Thursday, two lorries carrying a load of food items and basic needs with a subsidised value of RM34,000 were brought to the area to make it easier for the public to purchase them. – Bernama
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