survey on the most preferred brand in the
foodstuff category.
This year has brought in another success
for the brand, as Gardenia bagged the best
marketing award of the year, an accreditation
that acknowledges Gardenia’s plight to give the
best of its ability at all times.
MARKET
The fast paced lifestyle and the shift in
demographic profiles within families globally
has fuelled the demand for nutritious food that
delivers on taste and convenience. Malaysia is
no different on this score. Gardenia successfully
managed to harvest and deliver on this demand,
asserting its place as an industry leader.
In this region, Gardenia honed an
unprecedented reputation of prominence in the
baking industry. Dominating the market with its
wide range of bread and specialty loaves, buns
and rolls, cakes, waffles and even spread which
caters to every Malaysian. Gardenia has stood
the test of time and till today remains Malaysia’s
preferred brand with a 70% market share.
Understanding that its consumers consist
of the entire spectrum of socio-economic
segments, the company takes pride in its
commitment to keep abreast with market
development and are receptive towards the
shifts in consumers’ demands and needs.
Market studies conclude that Malaysians prefer
the soft, American-style bread that Gardenia
produces to the drier European variety.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Gardenia’s journey began in 1986 when the
first loaf of bread rolled off its production line.
In a span of four short years, the corporate
ascend was inevitable with a 99% brand recall
rate and 80% top-of-mind recall. Malaysia’s
increasing demand for fresh and nutritious bread
led Gardenia to build its own fully automated
factory in 1991, capable of producing 6,000
loaves an hour. In 1994, another state-of-theart plant, capable of producing 10,000 loaves
an hour, started operations to cope with the
growing demand for bread. Today, Gardenia’s
five factories with fully automated bread lines
have a machine capacity exceeding 900,000
fresh loaves a day, making it the biggest bread
producer in Southeast Asia by far.
Gardenia’s
uncompromising
feat
in
maintaining the highest quality standards
and commitment to its consumers, has won
Gardenia more than its share of accolades and
awards. Amongst them are ISO 22000:2005
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)
certification, Malaysian Superbrands status, and
a National Creativity and Innovation Award.
HISTORY
In 1969, an American named Horatio Sye
Slocumm was sent by the International
Executive Service Corps to East Malaysia to
start a bakery. He brought with him 35 years of
baking experience with one of America’s leading
chain of bakeries. Gardenia was chosen as the
brand name and in honour of Mr Slocumm’s
contribution, the packaging still describes the
product as ‘Uncle Slocumm’s
original recipe’.
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SUPERBRANDS VOLUME VIII
its leadership through constant innovation
while at the same time maintaining consumer
satisfaction with new product developments,
stringent quality checks and efficient distribution.
Gardenia continues to stand out from
its competitors by creating products that are
category leaders. Continuous R&D, committed
teamwork and a single-minded objective makes
it possible.
The company regularly sends key employees
overseas for training with the American Institute
of Baking and other professional institutions.
Its employees also attend international trade
shows. By understanding the hearts and minds
of its consumers, Gardenia is confident of
staying relevant to its market and sustaining its
success.
PROMOTION
A key component of the creative marketing
exercise carried out by Gardenia is taking
upon themselves to educate the consumers
on the health benefits of 100% Wholegrain and
giving them an opportunity to make informed
decisions on their dietary intake based on
their requirements. This task is carried out by
sponsoring health talks for the doctors and other
healthcare professionals, informative leaflets
and even the incorporation of the single-served
Canadian Purple Wheat 100% WholeGrain
bread in hospital menus.
Another aspect of the marketing activities
was engaging the end users through multi level
platforms; traditional and digital. The company
consciously embarks into digital campaigns
to reach out and engage with its consumers
effectively. This new wave media communication
provides a combination of opportunities for the
brand to engage and have interactive dialogues
with its consumers.
www.gardenia.com.my
Gardenia has also won the prestigious
Putra Brand Gold Award, the people’s choice
award, six times in a row, from 2010-2015. In
2013, Gardenia earned the accolade of highly
acclaimed Brand Icon. This is an especially
significant recognition as Gardenia was placed
alongside renowned global brand names,
further entrenching Gardenia as the consumer’s
preference. This award by the Association of
Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As)
and endorsed by Malaysia External Trade
Corporation (MATRADE) is based on a market
PRODUCT
Over the years, Gardenia has sustained
its phenomenal growth and dominance through
its distinctive bread-making technique and
philosophy. The traditional sponge and dough
method is employed to bake every single loaf of
Gardenia bread. This bread-making technique
allows the dough to develop naturally, giving it
the unique Gardenia texture and flavour as well
as naturally increasing its shelf life. Each loaf,
from the initial mixing of ingredients to the final
wrapping, takes approximately eight hours. The
results attest to the old saying of taking one’s
time to do things right, a soft and delicious
sandwich bread favoured by Malaysians.
Gardenia’s insistence on supreme factory
hygiene coupled with natural replacements such
as raisin juice concentrate and vinegar made it
possible for Gardenia to produce bread with No
Artificial, Synthetic and Unnatural Preservatives
for the Malaysian consumer.
Leveraging on its brand strength, Gardenia
also produces a variety of other tasty bread
products to satisfy consumers’ demands.
Amongst it’s popular items are Gardenia
European Cottage Style bread, Toast’em and
Delicia loaves and convenient snacks such as
Squiggles, Delicia Cream Rolls, Delicia Sambal
Bilis Bun, Delicia Waffles, Twiggies and Quick
Bites snack cakes and its range of spreads.
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RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Gardenia continuously strives to meet the
consumer’s demand for variety and constant
shifting tastes by staying abreast with industry
innovations and baking technologies as well
as investing in product development. The
popularity of Gardenia snack cakes paved the
introduction of two new variants of Twiggies;
Tiramisu and Raspberry were launched to fulfil
an older segment of the cake market.
Gardenia introduced its very own Milky
Chocolate and Hazelnut Chocolate Spread. The
creamy, thick, smooth and rich tasting spreads
are just ridiculously good! These new products
were swept of the shelves as soon as it hits
them.
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
GARDENIA
• Gardenia delivers fresh bread 365 days
a year, rain or shine, to more than 25,000
outlets throughout Malaysia.
• With a total machine capacity of over
two million units of product each
day, Gardenia Malaysia is the largest
wholesale bakery in Southeast Asia.
•Since 1991, Gardenia has been
providing fresh bread daily to more
than 70 charitable organisations and
continues to do so. This includes homes
for the elderly, orphanages and centres
for the disabled.
• Over 35,000 people walk through the
gates at Gardenia each year for a free
factory tour.
BRAND VALUES
Gardenia has always been associated with
quality, freshness, reliability and healthy living
which has earned it a firm presence in the
consumers’ hearts. Gardenia pledges to sustain
M A L AY S I A’ S S T R O N G E S T B R A N D S
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