(Artikel ini adalah terjemahan petikan daripada artikel When Bread has Race yang disiarkan dalam akhbar The Star pada 8 Januari 2012)
GARDENIA atau Massimo? Roti Bengali atau Roti Boy? Bun Mexico atau Roti Perancis? Sila ke rumah orang Malaysia, pasti anda akan terjumpa bungkusan roti. Samaada roti putih atau ‘wholemeal’ ia adalah makanan biasa orang Malaysia.
Orang Malaysia sesungguhnya banyak pilihan tatkala memilih untuk sarapan pagi. Ada beberapa syarikat tempatan yang membekalkan roti seperti Gardenia, High 5 dan yang terbaharu Massimo, yang merupakan pembekal utama roti di pasaran. Sesungguhnya banyak pilihan berdasarkan harga, nilai zat dan rasa.
Baru baru ini satu laman Facebook menggesa pembeli pembeli roti menambah bangsa dan politik sebagai asas pemilihan mereka.
Mulai sebulan lepas, kempen online ini menggesa pemboikotan roti Gardenia, kerana kononnya Gardenia dimiliki oleh syarikat kroni.
Ia mendakwa Syarikat Padiberas Nasional(Bernas), setelah mengambilalih saham Gardenia, telah memberi tekanan kepada syarikat tersebut supaya menghentikan pembelian tepung daripada Federal Flour Mills Bhd (FFM) yang dimiliki oleh Tan Sri Robert Kwok atas sebab sebab rasis. Bernas dimiliki oleh Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary.
Kempen tersebut menggesa pengguna supaya berpindah kepada Massimo yang dikeluarkan oleh FFM sebagai ganti kepada Gardenia.
Sementara sumber kempen tidak dapat dipastikan, jualan Gardenia menurun, mendorong syarikat tersebut mengeluarkan iklan yang ia bukannya syarikat kroni dan menafikan yang ia telah diarahkan oleh Bernas menghentikan pembelian tepung daripada FFM.
Dalam iklannya, Gardenia menegaskan ia membeli tepung dari Malayan Flour Mlls Bhd dan Prestasi Flour Mills Sdn Bhd hanya atas sebab sebab komersial.
Ia juga menambah bahawa sungguhpun Bernas ada kepentingan dalam pengilang tepung berkenaan, ia tidak pernah mengarah atau memaksa Gardenia membeli tepung dari syarikat tersebut.
Pihak FFM pula mengiklan penafian sebarang penglibatan dalam kempen kotor terhadap Gardenia.
Pihak FFM juga menegaskan mereka sentiasa berpegang dengan prinsip yang setiap perniagaan perlu beroperasi dalam suasana persaingan yang adil.
“Kami amat bertuah kerana selama ini beroperasi dalam pasaran yang mengamalkan nilai nilai ini”, kata FFM.
Komen daripada Blog DAH IKHWAN
Dari urutan peristiwa ini sebenarnya sukar hendak mengetahui pihak mana yang menjadi dalang kempen boikot Gardenia ini. Ini kerana sudah pasti ada beberapa pihak yang berkempetingan dalam hal ini, termasuklah pesaing pesaing dalam industri roti. Tetapi, kita nampak dari peristiwa ini dan beberapa peristiwa yang serupa, kini wujud kempen secara berselindung atau terbuka untuk menjejas atau melemahkan perniagaan yang dimiliki atau dikuasai oleh usahawan Melayu/muslim.
DAH IKHWAN
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1. Isu DNA Babi dalam Ramly Burger.
salam,aku ikut jugak isu ni dari awal2 isu ni kecoh haritu,
pada pandangan aku,kenapa lah company massimo ni sanggup gunakan isu perkauman dalam kempen diorang untuk promosikan roti diorang??tak boleh ke berniaga dengan persaingan yang sihat??tapi takde lah aku heran sngat,sebab dari dulu lagi ramai yang dah tau jaringan company robert kuok ni bnyak mengamalkan sifat perkauman yang melampau terhadap org melayu.apa masalah dia pon aku tak tahu,…..jom kita buktikan kuasa membeli ada di tangan orang melayu!!harap2 lepas tu diorang sedar,kalau tak sedar jugak kita teruskan boikot sampai diorang sedar!!
peniaga massimo ni takut dgn the power of demokrasi
I will eat Bumi’s made bread only
Kita utamakan produk Muslim dahulu baru guna produk bkn muslim. Biar prdk muslim tu mahal sikit atau rasanya kurang sikit tapi kita mesti utamakan produk muslim supaya peniaga muslim blh terus maju. Produk muslim ternyata halal, kalau bkn muslim ni kita kena waspada.
Alhamdullilah baru dapat tau info sebenar memang tempat aku bai tu pun bawa roti massimo dia pun termakan kempen rasanya memang sedap tapi dah tau Robert Kiok yg punya angkara aku nak tukar ke GARDENIA balik!
Dari awal lagi aku dah tau pasal hal ini…kat ofis aku org yg rasis ni kempen kat fb lagi…aku stick to Gardenia…
massimmo cina punya,,puak2 cina semenenajung pakat boikot gardenia,, kita boikot massimmo
“ Massimo versus Gardenia: Why I chose the Former. ”
Hi, I’m a Malay Muslim myself, and being a bread connoisseur myself (well, sort of because I consume bread rather than rice on a daily basis) I thought I’d share my opinion.
I for one prefer Massimo’s range of bakery products over Gardenia’s, and here are the reasons why I’m doing so :
1 ] I don’t believe in the concept of patronizing a certain company because no matter which company I choose to buy products from, someone’s making a profit out of it and that’s just a simple business transaction. I’d rather spend my money on products that really complement my needs than on products made by company which claims to champion the rights of a certain group of people of the public but in reality doesn’t really give back to the community. As a consumer, if I buy products from your company that’s only because I like your products and they suit my taste and I am satisfied with what you’re offering me and I want to experience that again.
2 ] In my opinion, Massimo breads are fluffier, tastier (they sure know how to maintain their recipes), cheaper (if not the same price as their competitors’) and contains less preservatives (as I believe someone has done a simple home experiment to prove this) than their rival products. Like I said earlier, I’m in this for quality. People want the best value for their money. It’s universal. Whichever bread company makes better breads, that’s the one I’m buying from. This actually reminds me of a funny tweet I’ve came across sometime ago. When asked which is his favorite soccer team, Mufti Ismail Menk humorously replied that he supports the winning team. Well, that makes two of us.
3 ] Robert Kuok is the richest Malaysian and that’s a fact. Nobody can deny his assets or net worth (USD 15.4 billion as of March 2018). I have a neutral opinion of him as I don’t particularly like or hate him. One may argue that he made his fortune through corrupt business practices, but a better argument would be that he is where he is now because he’s a man with a sharp business acumen. He himself should knows better than to put alleged swine DNA into the wheat flour which would eventually be made into bread and then sold in a Muslim majority country. As if Malaysia doesn’t already have a food regulation body for that. America have the FDA and similar to that role in Malaysia we have the JAKIM. If there is even a remote chance that Massimo bread contains even a trace amount of swine DNA, then it is incumbent upon the JAKIM to set up a vigilant task force to investigate and verify such atrocious claim. If not, then let us be reminded that it is wrong to slander another person, be it a fellow Muslim or a non-Muslim. To spread false accusations on someone and seeking to damage the reputation of his or her business is a low blow practice in my opinion, just so you know.
So in conclusion, I will stick to my choice as does everyone else. At the end of the day I’m the one buying, tasting, eating and savoring my own choice of bread and so it is up to me to choose which one I believe is the best. Nobody is there to point a gun at my head to force me to choose which one to buy. I think we as consumers should take a laissez faire approach to this situation, as getting involved with topics such religion and ethnicity would only make it worse.
As a side note I don’t think that I’m doing a major crime in choosing a bakery product that suits my taste buds best.
May the best breadmaker wins,
Peace and out.
If you don’t like people commenting on your blog, then with all due respect please take down the comment section.
How close minded, biased and prejudiced. But that’s okay. After all, nobody visit your blog anymore nowadays.
Nevermind, this is the first and the last time I post comments on your defunct blog sphere. I’ll go post my opinion somewhere else. You lost one commenter today, but keep doing that and you’ll thousands more.
Signing off. BTW, thanks but no thanks.
Pro Massimo, Mengapa marah-marah? Just say your points, no need to be emotional.
saya pilih gardenia ajee