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Of cars and bread

SINGAPORE — That popular Japanese bakery Asanoya is opening its first outpost outside Japan only after 81 years is an interesting proposition. However, what’s more interesting is its choice for a business partner: Tan Chong International.

SINGAPORE — That popular Japanese bakery Asanoya is opening its first outpost outside Japan only after 81 years is an interesting proposition. However, what’s more interesting is its choice for a business partner: Tan Chong International.

The latter company that has built a reputation primarily in the motoring industry with brands such as Subaru and Nissan and this is its virgin venture into the food and beverage business. But while it is apparent just how popular Japanese artisan goods have grown across the globe, Tan Chong International’s executive director Glenn Tan preferred to celebrate the brand’s heritage.

“In Japan, where much attention is placed on ensuring food is of the highest quality, you have to be doing something right to enjoy the success that Asanoya has had for more than 80 years. It is the first outlet for the brand outside of Japan, as we see a growing trend for Japanese F&B (brands and concepts) here in Singapore,” he said.

Asanoya will officially open on Nov 15 at Wilby Central, occupying a space that was originally a car showroom.

But while most will see the two brands as odd bedfellows, Tan affirmed that it was a natural choice, given his company’s established relationship with many Japanese brands. He also professed a love for quality breads.

“My sister and I frequent Tokyo and this is one of her favourite bread shops,” Tan added.

But ties between the two companies run further back. “Coincidentally, one of the founder’s sons didn’t work at Asanoya, but was president of Nissan-Diesel, which we used to handle,” he explained. “My father has known Mr Asano for a long time, but his brother was the one who ran the bread business and now his niece Asano Maki is the company’s CEO. So we’ve sort of had this connection already ... It is also a brand that we like so it worked out nicely.”

That said, this seemingly serendipitous union was an equally timely one. There was a need, Tan shared, to fill the space on the ground floor of the building on Queen Street that also housed service apartments.

“I had converted the 5,000 sq ft space into a restaurant space more than 10 years ago. I thought our service apartments needed to have some kind of F&B — and once you’ve turned it into a restaurant space there is no going back to a car showroom,” he said.

Tan and his team began exploring their options last year and when the previous tenant’s lease ended in March, renovations began. Tan played to the neighbourhood’s unique appeal, highlighting the government’s plans to develop the area as an arts precinct.

“The cafe culture here is also growing ... the carpark lots along the street are gone, so there’s a wider walkway (so) I thought we’d open our own cafe,” Tan divulged, adding that they have included projectors in the space. “In the future, if artists want to display their works, they can just upload their files and we could display them. That is part of our concept, to fit into the arts scene.”

CUSTOMER SERVICE

What does a successful businessman know about selling bread? Well, apparently, some key aspects are not too dissimilar.

“We really try to emphasise good customer service. Of course, it’s going to be tough initially, but ... that’s how Tan Chong built its brand name in Singapore — we are known for good customer service,” said Tan. “And we’ll try to continue the same standards (at Asanoya).”

He has been looking at ways to help staff remember details of over 60 varieties of bread that are available and tweaking the point of sales (POS) system to prevent or minimise customer bottlenecks. “Our processes are very important to stopping these bottlenecks,” he said, adding that he is relying on his experience with car sales, which are extremely seasonal, often peaking during periods such as Chinese New Year. “We’ve dealt with going from (selling) 200 cars to suddenly selling 1,000 cars. So we try to use that kind of experience to try and reduce the bottlenecks.” There are also plans to leverage the company’s presence across Asia. “We are looking to expand in the Asean region where we have networks already,” Tan confirmed.

Tan Chong International, he said, built its brand name in Singapore before expanding overseas (they are in 10 countries right now); but it took the company more than 12 years to get where they are. “But first steps first,” he added.

This includes settling a menu for patrons. Alongside sandwiches, salads, wine and Japanese beer, highlights in Asanoya Singapore’s freshly-baked line-up include the tea bread — a favourite of Tan and Asanoya’s executive director Naomichi Kobayashi, who is in town for a month to oversee the opening.

The bakery’s signature and unmistakably large Karuizawa loaf, which measures 55cm in diameter and weighs a good 1.3kg, is available with raisins or blueberry — customers can choose the number of slices they want and are charged by weight. Other signature items include a large pretzel made with homemade maple cream and walnut and curry buns made with specially-imported Japanese curry, although these are limited to 20 a day.

Good food almost always travels well, and for Tan and Asanoya, they’re hoping that it will travel far and wide too.

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