Today we’re going to talk about a company that you would have come in contact with on a day to day basis. Make a guess – this is a company that started as a bakery brand making pork floss buns. 

Bingo if you’ve guessed Breadtalk. Founded in 2000, Breadtalk Group is now an F&B group with multiple concepts ranging from bakeries, restaurants  and even food atriums. 

With close to 700 retail stores spread across 16 markets in Asia, the Middle East and the  United Kingdom, the company’s portfolio comprises direct owned brands such as BreadTalk, ToastBox, Food Republic, So Ramen and Thye Moh Chan. 

The company also counts Din Tai Fung, Song Fa Bak Kut Teh and Wu Pao Chun Bakery as its partner brands. But why are we talking about a brand that most of us would know of? Well, the past four or five years have been full of changes for BreadTalk. 

In 2019, the Group bought over food court operator Food Junction in a deal worth S$80 million to obtain additional revenue streams.  

And in 2020, the firm’s founder George Quek offered to take the then SGX-listed firm private. It was also that year that the firm cut salaries temporarily amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A year later, a consortium led by mainboard-listed Lian Beng Group bought over BreadTalk’s IHQ Building in Tai Seng in a S$118 million sale and leaseback deal.

Meanwhile, the firm also came up with new concepts like Tau Sar Piah brand Thye Moh Chan and First Street Teochew Fish Soup. It even unveiled a Toast Box Coffee House in Tiong Bahru last year.

It seems like there are many moving parts for the firm all happening within the past few years. But what were the reasons behind each of the moves, and how did the firm take the time to reconfigure its business and develop new revenue streams for the future?

On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Hoo Hoe Keat, Chief Business Officer, BreadTalk Group.