From mum to son: The story of Singapore’s chocolate cake institution Lana Cakes
Advertisement
People
From mum to son: The story of Singapore's chocolate block institution Lana Cakes
In the first episode of CNA Luxury's podcast series Next Gen, Jason Kwan reveals how he gave upwards a loftier-flying banking career in Tokyo to take over Lana Cakes from his mum, and what he plans to do with the business in future.
Jason Kwan shares with CNA Luxury his journeying towards taking over Lana Cakes and preserving its legacy. (Photo: Alvin Teo; Art: Chern Ling)
17 Oct 2022 07:23AM (Updated: 18 Oct 2022 11:06AM)
Stepping into Lana Cakes one weekday afternoon, I'chiliad told that I'm twenty minutes besides late. It was non considering of tardiness on my part, though. Rather, I had narrowly missed running into a near-glory.
"If y'all had come about 20 minutes before, yous would have met [the granddaughter of an ex-President]," explained proprietor Jason Kwan, 56. The family had been a longtime Lana Cakes customer. "She talked virtually how she always had a Lana cake every yr. [The ex-President] actually celebrated one of his birthdays at the Istana with our cake."
Such is the pull of Lana Cakes, that it appeals to anybody from presidents to ordinary folk celebrating their birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and other special occasions.
For the uninitiated, Kwan's mother, Violet, started Lana Cakes every bit a home-based business in 1964. Customers would drive up to her residence on Hillcrest Road, park their cars, and enter the house to collect their chocolate fudge or chiffon cakes. Eventually, a permanent location had to exist sought, so in 1975, Lana Cakes moved into a shophouse on Greenwood Avenue, where it still stands today.
In 2017, Kwan took over managing the business from his mother. Prior to that, he had spent nearly thirty years in the banking industry, working in Zurich, London and Tokyo. In fact, it was never on the cards for him (or his sis Jennifer, who is based in the US with her family) to succeed his mum, now 92.
"It wasn't a specific decision to come back to take over," he shared. "My mum was looking for a successor [in 2016]. Around March 2017, I decided to come back for my block get out and check on [my mum]. What I discovered was that my mum was really depressed nearly the state of affairs. I felt that she didn't want to sell her cake shop. In fact, in our discussions, it became articulate that she was basically thinking of but closing the business and not selling information technology."
But when Kwan walked into the shop, memories came flooding dorsum. "It was just then familiar," he recalled. Mrs Kwan had run the business in much the same fashion every bit she did for the past twoscore years. "Most of the processes, the equipment, the pots and pans in the shop were exactly the aforementioned every bit I remembered as a small kid." The only things that eluded him were the recipes: How to brand the cakes.
At that point, some introspection was in order. Later three decades in banking, was that how he wanted to retire? Or was conveying on his mum'south legacy the way to go? A lengthy word with his wife and two sons followed, and in the end, it was decided that he should return to Singapore to acquit the mantle of Lana Cakes, while his family unit remained in Tokyo.
In time, Kwan learned all the cake-making recipes from his female parent, who had specific instructions on how to scoop the different portions of the flour, carbohydrate, cocoa and other ingredients. There was much at stake. The success of Lana Cakes rode on the quality and consistency of the offerings; over the years, customers had grown accepted to the gustation of the cakes and would not take well to changes.
"I absolutely respect and I'1000 extremely proud of my mum," Kwan shared. "My father passed away when I was 16 years old. And then since the early on 80s, my mum basically carried on life. She was a unmarried mum, a widow, she was running the block shop, she was providing for us. And, you know, because how she has built the concern, and to exist able to afford to send us to schools overseas. Information technology's just amazing. I'm really proud of what she's washed.
"To me, the legacy is not just Lana Cakes merely the legacy of how she has brought us up and immune us the opportunities that we have had. I think this is ane of the most amazing things. I'm virtually breathless when I think about what she's done for us. And I'grand really proud of her, and we really do appreciate what she'due south done for u.s.." If there is one lesson from her that Kwan holds dear, it is to "respect and treat people the way you lot would desire to be treated".
As with whatsoever legacy business organization, information technology is a challenge to continue things the way they are, while besides pushing forwards with innovation. In Lana Cakes' example, the issue lies with maintaining the same flavour contour – the taste that customers grew up with – despite changes in technology and the supply chain.
For Kwan, having a taste legacy is of import, but he feels that things do non have to remain status quo. For example, while the classic chocolate fudge cake has remained largely unchanged, customer demands for an even chocolatier version persuaded him to come up with a Fudge Lovers Only (FLO) diversity, with two-thirds of the cake's weight made upwards of pure fudge. He lovingly dubs information technology "a chocolate cake on steroids".
Lana Cakes is charmingly anachronistic: The business still operates from the same single location, and information technology did not accept an cyberspace footprint until the end of 2018. Compare this with the rash of abode-based blistering businesses that have sprung up since the onset of the pandemic, many of them taking instantly to Instagram to attract customers.
"We look at Instagram, and some of these [social media] tools, as ways of promoting what we have as opposed to selling. We're nonetheless a very traditional block shop. And we believe that word of oral fissure still works," said Kwan.
What of franchise plans, then?
"I think considering the challenges of the pandemic, information technology's not an area that I'm focusing on. I do think that in the longer term, I would like to consider taking Lana Cakes international. Only at the moment I'm focused on making certain that our business is Singapore is strong and as good as it is.
"We built the business organization based on quality and consistency. It's never about mass product; it'southward never near making every bit much as y'all tin. I await at this more equally a marathon, whereby we desire to maintain this legacy, nosotros want to go the altitude. It's not a sprint, where you're just expanding. If we focus just on expanding, tin we really continue the quality and the consistency the style customers expect of us?" he asked rhetorically.
No doubtfulness, helming a concern that has been around for 57 years comes with its fair share of responsibility. "At any time, a client can walk into the shop and say that they've been eating this cake for the last 30, 40 years. I feel that I almost have to try harder. When I came back I knew it was not easy to take over this business concern.
"I have no regrets that I have given upward my cyberbanking career to come up into this. I practise miss that function of my life. Merely you know, when you deal with people, it comes with the warmth, it comes with the joys and the tears, stories, and the happiness that your customers share with yous. And that'southward something that keeps me going. Lana Cakes is a lot of piece of work. Just I get a lot of intangible rewards from information technology."
The Adjacent Gen podcast is brought to you by Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Listen to our interview with Jason Kwan here. New episodes of Side by side Gen are published every Lord's day at cna.asia/podcasts.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/people/lana-cakes-singapore-chocolate-cake-284831
0 Response to "From mum to son: The story of Singapore’s chocolate cake institution Lana Cakes"
Post a Comment