Gardenia’s Legacy in the Baking Industry

The Gardenia plant in Biñan City

Gardenia s roots go back to Singapore where, in 1978, it began as a humble in-store bakery. Increasing demand led to the opening of Gardenia s first-commercial bakery at Pandan Loop in March 1983. Gardenia has since been the market leader in Singapore and has expanded its operations in Asia to countries such as Malaysia and Thailand with the latest in the Gardenia chain of bakeries here in the Philippines.

It all began in 1997, QAF Limited through Gardenia International Pte. Ltd. established Gardenia Bakeries Philippines Inc. and started construction of its bakery plant in Laguna International Industrial Park (LIIP), Biñan City, Laguna.

Gardenia Philippines started its operations in 1998 with the state-of-the-art bread factory rated as one of the most modern large scale bread manufacturing facility in the country. Its major, highly-automated equipment come from the best bakery equipment suppliers from Germany, Holland, UK, and USA making it the leading manufacturing company in the Philippines.

Over the years, Gardenia has gained wide acceptance and is now considered as the most widely distributed loaf brand, reaching many parts of the country. 

Gardenia Philippines offers a wide array of superior bakery products including white, wheat and health breads, flavored loaves, pandesal and snack items like snack cakes, muffins and toasts. Gardenia breads are known for their good taste, freshness, softness, oven-baked aroma and nutritive value. The popular Classic White Bread is cholesterol free and bromate free, has zero transfat, and is vitamin and mineral fortified, exceeding DOH recommendations. Its product slogan "So good...you can even eat it on its own" best describes the product benefits.

Gardenia, being a consumer-focused and branded food company, is singularly driven in delivering superior consumer value through providing consumers with superior products. The Gardenia trademark means value and is respected all over Asia.

Gardenia has been awarded with International Organization for Standardization ISO 9001: 2000 certifications from 2003 to 2009 and has now upgraded to ISO 9001:2008 in compliance with Quality Management System and certification for product quality excellence. This assures that consumers only get the highest quality products in the market. Moreover, Gardenia is HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) certified since 2003 to present—proof of the company’s adherence to the systematic approach in the identification, evaluation, and control of food safety standards. From 2004-2010, Gardenia was accorded Superbrands status by Superbrands Ltd., an independent authority and arbiter on branding. This, on the other hand, re-affirms that Gardenia has met the stringent criteria of market dominance, longevity, goodwill, customer loyalty and overall market acceptance. Another notable award is the Annual National Consumers’ Award (ANCA) as the “Outstanding Bread Manufacturer” for five straight years.

These are some testaments which prove that Gardenia provides only the best products for Filipino consumers.

Gardenia Philippines pioneered a unique distribution system, ensuring that only fresh breads reach consumers every day. Gardenia strictly follows its international policy of keeping only fresh stocks on the store shelves. As soon as products come out of the factory, delivery vans leave the production plant as early as 4 o’clock in the morning to bring the products to specific locations in the country. Replacing unsold breads in store shelves with only freshly baked top-quality products during each day of delivery is a Gardenia practice unmatched in the industry.

Since the start of its operations, Gardenia s distribution had grown rapidly. Gardenia is now considered as the most widely distributed loaf brand in Metro Manila to as far as Isabela, Abra, Cagayan and Ilocos provinces in the North, the Bicol region in the South, and Negros, Samar, Antique, Aklan, Iloilo, and Leyte in the Visayas region. Increasing demand led Gardenia to reach Cebu, Bohol, Butuan City, Iligan City, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, and Davao City in Mindanao. From Gardenia s establishment in 1998, the brand’s success has been starkly evident with its continuous and rapid sales growth.

This combination of superior product quality, advanced bread-making technology and extensive system of distribution reflects the consumer-oriented vision of Gardenia Philippines that brings consumers the highest level of product satisfaction.

The reason behind Gardenia’s success is no secret; it is the people who made Gardenia what it is today and the goal of sustaining Gardenia’s leadership and excellence. Our enthusiasm to serve constitutes the “yeast that raises the dough” and with this, Gardenia will continue to take the lead.