Bakerzin’s CEO Daniel Tay has gone a full circle. Few may remember that he lost a big fortune setting up a bread factory during the late 1980s, and had to start all over by making cakes for friends from home.
The rest is history. With 10 Bakerzin under his belt and more stores in regional countries, he is back into the bread making business with a new shop Artisan Bread at MyVillage Serangoon Village.
The stern-looking Daniel was candid and sincere in sharing his thoughts. When asked about his success, he says “Having 10 stores is not that much to be proud of. When I look at my friend who opened up more than 100 shops at China within 2 to 3 years, I feel that I lag so far behind” he said disappointedly.
This is strange coming from a person whose cakes and desserts have found much popularity and appeal. The peculiar thing was when asked what his greatest regret was, it was “not going earlier to the bread business”.
I might have hit the wrong buttons when I said that it was probably Breadtalk which revolutionised the bread industry in Singapore. Daniel was clear in disclosing that he was not a fan of “soft and airy” bread, but those that undergone proper fermenting.
“Many Singaporeans do not appreciate true premium bread.”
Daniel’s father is the owner of Seng Choon Bakery, therefore it is not surprising that bakery is in his blood. His entire mood changed to a chirpy one when we talked about bread. “My first love is baking bread. At the start of my career, I spent a lot of time learning the art and science of baking good European style breads. So I finally decided to dedicate a store just to a range of artisan breads.”
In between shuffling between stores, Daniel revealed that his indulgence include duck rice from Sin Ming Road and the Outrum Park Char Kway Tiao at Hong Lim because the uncle used blood from the cockles to fry with lots of lard. “Very unhealthy but it is worth it”.
When asked if he dreamt of having Breadtalk’s success of getting Bakerzin listed, he said it was impossible for now but he would take “one step at a time”.
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Sometimes it’s not the size of the company but the passion behind it!
I totally agree with what he said, I LOVE the true bread with hard crust and yeasty flavours, the real bread…not the local ones, soft and limp, topped with lots of rubbish on top…if only those ‘artisan’ (true) bread is made more available…
asian like to eat soft bread meh,bo bian!
everyday i pass by those breadshop,i look at those buns full of pity!
Can try his artisan breads at Bakerzin myVillage at Serangoon. I am quite sick of the bread at Breadtalk! Same thing day in day out for the last 10 years! What I really want is healthy tasty bread for breakfast, not bread laden with sausages, ham and all the unhealthy stuff… 🙁
I think Daniel Tay should bring on the good stuff. Maybe people weren’t so savvy 10 years ago, but I think the time is now ripe. Just look at the new cafes like 40Hands and Papa Palheta serving up good real coffee. People are willing to go to far flung places to get quality.