Saturday, December 16, 2023

[UPDATED] No Berry’s Christmas to all: bakery bans writing ‘Merry Christmas’, ‘Xmas’ on festive cakes






Berry’s Cake House has barred their staff members from writing ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Xmas’ on its upcoming Christmas Festival Celebration cakes. – Social media pic, December 16, 2023


[UPDATED] No Berry’s Christmas to all: bakery bans writing ‘Merry Christmas’, ‘Xmas’ on festive cakes

Employee verifies they will instead be using ‘Season’s Greetings’ toppers




KUALA LUMPUR – Employees of local patisserie Berry’s Cake House are barred from writing “Merry Christmas” or “Xmas” on its upcoming Christmas Festival Celebration cakes.

This was verified by one of its staff members, who said they would instead be providing customers with “Season’s Greetings” card toppers.

However, the employee was not informed of the reason behind this confounding decision, which was only introduced this year.

Berry’s Christmas-themed cakes are expected to be launched next week.

According to a notice circulated online, the bakery’s employees are prohibited from incorporating “Christmas”, or its variations, to decorate their seasonal cakes – even upon the customer requests.

The notice, dated December 14, said it was because the bakery currently holds the halal certificate and must adhere to the requirements set by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim).

“To be informed, for this coming ‘Christmas Festival Celebration’, we are strictly not allowed to write the words ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Xmas’ on any cakes, even (those) requested by the customer.

“You may (use) our provided ‘Season’s Greetings’ wishes card topper to replace and (be put on) display on the cakes.

“The reason is that we are holding the Halal certificate. We should be fully (supportive) and meet all the halal requirements, rules, and regulations by Jakim,” the notice read.

The notice was sent to several of Berry’s outlets in Putra Heights, Bandar Puchong Utama, SS2 Petaling Jaya, IOI Boulevard, and an unidentified “SR” location.

First opened in 1994, Berry’s currently has 10 outlets in the Klang Valley. – December 16, 2023


4 comments:

  1. Whatever happened with the Selamat Hari Natal greeting ? Surely better than Xmas and the portrayal of a pot belly santa-claus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The standard Christmas greeting in Malaysia /Malaya for over 100 years has been Merry Christmas.
      Don't concoct "Selamat Hari Natal" , that is NOT traditional in Malaysia.

      Delete
  2. In Malaysia, many festive season cakes are made, put on display and bought on the spot by casual customers, not only ordered in advance.
    Jakim's ruling basically enforces that for such cakes made for sales display Cannot say Merry Xmas, else the shop risks losing it's Halal status.
    The commercial term is "Sales Display" , that means you make the item , put it in display in the shop with the intention to sell it... that's a very common way to sell cakes.

    Very rare are cakes made purely for display, because they are a perishable item.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is the outcome of the mentality of a nation that idolises Taliban and Hamas.

    ReplyDelete