Hong Kong has adopted stricter anti-epidemic policies, and Singapore has taken advantage of the situation, attracting many professionals and enterprises to develop.
The Star-Hong Kong dispute did not start today. The original preferred development location of A-1 Bakery Group, a chain group specializing in Japanese bread and cakes in Hong Kong, was also Singapore.
The Japanese-born president Motoshin Yang Jing accepted an exclusive interview with "Hong Kong 01", detailing his experience of coming to Hong Kong back then. By accident, he opened the first overseas branch in Shatian, and he achieved a great career.
Nearly 40 years after it came to Hong Kong, A-1 Bakery Group has opened 86 stores, more than its "birthplace" in Japan. It is no wonder that 70-year-old Yang Jing Yuanshin bluntly said that returning to Hong Kong for business is a kind of "return to housing business". feel", feel "stability and peace of mind".
A-1 Bakery Group originated in 1948 and was founded in Osaka, Japan by the father of Yangjing Yuannobu, Yangjing Dene. Now it has grown to 11 bakeries and 2 coffee shops in the local area.
But this time-honored brand is more widely known in Hong Kong and can be considered to be carried forward.
The company currently owns five major brands, in addition to the ace A-1 Bakery, there are also La Creation, Atelier Gute, Das Gute and Natural Bakery, with a total of 86 stores. There are outlying islands, and it's almost a situation of "there is always one nearby".
Although there is no hand of the sun of the protagonist of "Japanese Bread King" Donghema, but with the ingenuity of Japanese chefs and 80% of the ingredients from Japan, A-1 Bakery Group has a seat in the local market.
Including all the stores, the company revealed that the daily passenger flow reached 70,000. A simple conversion means that 1 out of 100 Hong Kongers in a single day "helps".
A-1 Bakery Group President Yang Jing Motobu came to Hong Kong to show off his skills and establish a Japanese bakery kingdom.
(Photo by O Jiale)
To achieve such an achievement, the hero should be Yang Jing Yuanshen, the son of Yang Jing Chuanzhi.
More than 40 years ago, after graduating from Hawaii Pacific University, he worked as an intern at A-1 Bakery in Japan. He started from humble beginnings, and was familiar with every process from baking production to sales, and finally started a big plan for external expansion.
There is a story behind abandoning Singapore and opening its first store in Shatin, Hong Kong
But it turned out that Yang Jing Yuanshin's preferred battleground was not Hong Kong, but Singapore, which is also one of the "Four Asian Tigers" and is often described as Hong Kong's rival.
In 1985, Yuanshin Yangjing, who was in his early 30s, took into account factors such as the aging population and heavy taxation in Japan, and believed that the development space of the Japanese market was limited. It happened that a section manager (group leader) of the store suggested opening a store, so Yuanshin Yangjing " Daredevil" took his first step overseas and planned to open the first A-1 Bakery store in Singapore.
Because there was no direct flight to Singapore from Japan at that time, Yang Jing Yuanshin had to come to Hong Kong to transfer, "I remember that I came to Shatin after landing at Kai Tak Airport. When I saw the development of Shatin, Yaohan (Japanese department store) ) is the opening of the shop in the first city of Shatin, and there are a lot of people, so I think this place will be very prosperous in the future!”
Since Japan did not have a direct flight to Singapore at that time, Yang Jing Yuanshin had to come to Hong Kong to transfer.
(file picture)
Later, when Yang Jing Yuanshen learned that Hong Kong's tax system is better, he decided to abandon the plan to open a store in Singapore and chose to open the first overseas store in Shatin.
However, it was difficult to get started. Yang Jing Yuanshen recalled that the company was on the verge of bankruptcy at that time, and the weekend turnover was far from normal. "In the first three years, there may be 100,000 yuan in weekend business, and 10,000 yuan on weekdays. It's a problem!" In order to better deploy manpower, Yang Jing Yuanshen can only add part-time employees during busy hours to reduce costs.
Hong Kong people's favorite food "soft body bag"
In addition, Yang Jingyuan pointed out that the Shatin store at that time not only sold bread and cakes, but also coffee and cooked food, but the bread business was the most stable, which laid the foundation for the future development direction of A-1 Bakery Group. 1 Bakery specializes in Japanese and European breads and cakes.
When it comes to the most popular bread, Yang Jing Yuanshin refers to the rye raisin walnut bun, which is made of rye flour, mixed with honey, and mixed with walnuts and dried raisins to make the overall taste of the bread more layered, he described It is "enduring, NO.1 product".
But it turned out that this kind of bread was not popular with Hong Kong people at first, "it sells well in Japan, but not in Hong Kong. Later, some Hong Kong customers reported that the bread was too hard, so our chef will switch from hard to soft. People prefer soft bread!" Yang Jing Yuanshin explained.
A-1 Bakery currently specializes in Japanese and European breads and cakes.
(Photo by O Jiale)
Aware of the difference in food culture between Hong Kong and Japan, Yang Jing Yuanshin said that many breads coming to Hong Kong would be "unacceptable" and had to be improved by Japanese chefs in Hong Kong. Like Cream, the taste is sweeter, and Hong Kong people don’t like to eat too sweet bread, so we will reduce the sweetness of Cream.”
Spending more than 10 million yuan to introduce new technology
Talking about the change in the way of operation, he pointed out that in the past, bread was made by hand, but now there are many branches. In order to maintain the quality of bread, it is necessary to use automatic equipment. To improve factory efficiency, (you) must know that everything in Hong Kong is expensive, and time and efficiency are important.”
In view of this, A-1 Bakery Group invested more than 10 million yuan to introduce new technologies, such as Bakery Scanner equipped with AI camera function and automatic cash register. The system can automatically identify discounts and other promotional activities, shorten shopping time and improve efficiency .
Customers can renew by themselves, and employees can avoid touching cash and food at the same time to ensure personal hygiene. The system will be fully implemented in all branches in Hong Kong within one year.
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At the same time the company
Returning to Hong Kong feels "stable and secure"
After 37 years of hard work, A-1 Bakery Group has become one of the leaders in the local bakery market. Up to now, Shatin District alone has expanded from one store to three stores. I've seen A-1 Bakery Group stores."
Although A-1 Bakery Group was not born in Sri Lanka, but grew up in Sri Lanka, the same is true for Yang Jing Yuanshin, who is 70 years old this year. He closed his eyes and said slowly, "Half of my life has been spent in Hong Kong, and I have gone to Japan after going to Japan. After a business trip and returning to Hong Kong, there will be a feeling of finally returning to a real estate company!" Yang Jing Yuanshin is Japanese, but he is full of Lion Rock spirit. He describes Hong Kong as another home for him and feels "stable and at ease".
