Looking at Kwaasong Bakehouse, a cosy bakery café in Boat Quay, you might not guess that its CEO is also the Southeast Asia Head of Quranium, a new quantum-resistant blockchain.
Before that, he had been spent 12 years in PwC Singapore, auditing banks at first before transiting to the fintech sector.
Beyond that, he’s also dipped his toes into entrepreneurship, having worked on an import-export and consulting business.
“My interest lies in building businesses in emerging areas such as disruptive technology,” Wei Jie shared with Vulcan Post.
So, how did someone with his background ended up getting into the field of F&B?
Crossing over into croissants
The Kwaasong journey started out with Wei Jie supporting his sister and her friend’s bakery interest as a backseat investor.
As the business began to show potential, the investors decided to take on the driver’s seat and scale the business.
Kwaasong had started off in their garage, but they decided to move to target the CBD crowd. That’s why they set up shop at Boat Quay. That seems to be an interesting choice, as the area has been known for its nightlife.
“Indeed, the Boat Quay area is undergoing a little bit of identity refresh themselves, diversifying from the touristy and nightlife vibes,” Wei Jie agreed. “Shortly, we were proven right as a few coffee and bakes-related businesses started popping up in the area.”
Right people in the right places
As the CEO, Wei Jie drives the strategic direction of the entire business, and is also involved in granular discussions across all functions, from sales to operations.
“I will be kidding to say the startup has been smooth sailing and easy going,” the co-owner admitted. “There are new problems to be addressed every single day.”
It is all about work-life integration and very structured discipline use of time. Across the business, there are formalised touch points for different topical discussions as well as communication channels for ad hoc matters.
Wei Jie, CEO and co-owner of Kwaasong
Thankfully, he doesn’t have to carry the burden on his own. He’s joined by Li Rui, his co-owner who was initially an investor of the business. Li Rui brings enthusiasm and experience with baking, having done it as a hobby since 2013.
Kwaasong is also supported by comprises a head barista and a head baker, both of whom are experienced in their respective industries.
With over 17 years of experience, the head barista was the 2023 & 2024 Asean Barista Team Champion, and has also been the National Barista & Latte Art Championships judge.
Meanwhile, the head baker has more than two decades of baking experience and was the former Chief Baker at a five-star hotel.
With Wei Jie bringing his own business acumen, this seems to be quite the dream team.
“I think it was a lot about business interest and mutual respect,” he said about bringing these professionals together. “We each have skillsets that were relevant to help bring our joint aspirations to fruition. I laid out a road map of the potential of their skillsets for the initial buy-in.”
Working together with the kitchen and storefront team to develop the menu, Kwaasong’s offerings include a variety of café beverages, as well as their own versions of mentaiko sausage, egg tart, and pain au chocolat.
Quality leads to quantity
The cafe industry in Singapore is rather saturated these days, but Wei Jie said Kwaasong’s reception has been warm and positive.
“Our brand positioning and comparative advantage focus on good experience and quality products,” Wei Jie shared.
“Singaporeans can often name brands with good coffee or good bakes, but rarely one that brings both together,” Wei Jie argued. “It is the combination of a good bake and a good cup of coffee that brings out the epitome of that experience.”
Delivering that kind of quality comes down to the ingredients used. Kwaasong operates on the belief that consumers deserve the best quality, and as such, source their products from all over the world.
“Despite the higher cost structure, we tend to prioritise customer’s experience over cost,” he said.
For example, Kwaasong uses Isigny butter from France, similar to many bakeries in France.
With that focus, they’ve drummed up enough validation from customers (as well as support from funders) to open up a second outlet in Guoco Tower.
Inching towards profitability
While the business is on a positive trajectory, the road hasn’t been easy. Like any startup, there have been challenges across all facets, the CEO shared, including market penetration, operations, manpower, and more.
“Given that we are a small team, wrapped around a highly intricate value chain, there’s always massive downstream impact whenever an issue hits,” he said. “It takes teamwork at its purest to get through these challenges.”
The proudest milestone comes during the opening of the second and third stores. That’s right, Kwaasong has a third outlet that just opened.
“From a garage where we were conducting numerous testing and making mistakes, we were able to see the business take shape over time,” he reminisced.
They’ve come a long way since then; their new outlets are beautifully designed, and staff members don their own uniforms nowadays.
Wei Jie shared that the business is “fortunate to inch close to profitability,” but has been taking significant bottom line hits due to their aggressive expansion plans.
Aside from their third outlet, they actually have a plan for a fourth by the end of the year. Due to the high capex investments, they’re still some ways away from breaking even.
Yet, the team is confident about their future. In fact, they have very bold ambitions of opening a thousand stores across Asia with multiple business lines.
“There is a rising middle class across Asia and they are looking for quality products to cater to their lifestyle,” the co-owners said. “We believe this presents a sunshine industry opportunity for our business to expand.”
“We believe that, as long as we put our customers’ experiences and interests at the core of our business, as well as take care of our funders, we will be able to achieve our lofty aspirations.”
- Learn more about Kwaasong Bakehouse here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about F&B businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Kwaasong Bakehouse
