Prices of Massimo products set to go up from Monday (Jan 3)

PETALING JAYA: Bakery company Massimo Bread has revised the prices of most of its products on Saturday (Jan 1), a month after Gardenia Bakeries increased the price of its products.

In a letter addressed to its retailers, the bakery's holding company The Italian Baker Sdn Bhd listed the revised retailer and consumer prices of its products effective Monday (Jan 3).

"We at Massimo have always ensured that our products remain consistent and do not compromise in quality and safety.

"We constantly seek new ways to improve our offerings to our consumers.

"In recent years, we have seen an escalation of raw material costs which have affected the costs of industrial bakery products, including Massimo’s, sold in the market," the letter read.

The new price for consumers lists, among others, RM2.80 for a loaf of White Sandwich 400g, up from RM2.38.

The White Sandwich 600g will cost RM4, up from RM3.35, while a 400g loaf of Wheat Germ, which was priced at RM2.48, would be increased to RM3.00.

The new price for Wheat Germ 600g is RM4.25, up from RM3.71.

Meanwhile, English portal FreeMalaysiaToday reported that the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry had said it would investigate the price hike when contacted.

On Nov 25, a letter from local bread producer Gardenia Bakeries (KL) to its retailers went viral on social media, informing about the price increase starting Dec 1, 2021.

In a letter addressed to its retailers, Gardenia Bakeries said the significant increase in production costs and materials were beyond their control and had put the company in a difficult position with no choice but to revise prices.

Gardenia Bakeries said they were very affected by the challenges during the pandemic and tried their best to absorb the increase in raw material prices over the years but the recent significant increase presented a different challenge.

It cited raw materials such as flour, whole wheat flour, vegetable fat, cocoa powder, milk and packaging had gone up in price.