When the pandemic struck in March 2020, the aviation business was pummelled by considered one of its most extreme crises to this point.
For Kittiya Ratanajirasas (or Kitty) and her husband, Philip Yap Han Xiang — each of whom labored as cabin crew members for Singapore Airways — this was an exceptionally difficult time.
With diminished flight schedules and pay cuts, the couple was left in a precarious monetary scenario, whereas going through the grim risk of being laid off from their jobs.
To complement their earnings, Kitty turned her ardour for baking right into a full-fledged enterprise by launching Two Bake Boys in July 2020, a home-based bakery that specialises in crepe desserts infused with native flavours.
Baking: From household exercise to a full-fledged enterprise
The enterprise concept sparked through the lockdown when Kitty determined to show her two boys tips on how to bake Thai Milk Tea crepe desserts, a recipe she picked up a few decade in the past from a cooking class in Bangkok.
To her shock, her boys — Carter and Coby — confirmed a eager curiosity in baking. From cracking eggs to whisking flour, they have been desperate to get their fingers soiled and assist in the baking course of.
Baking finally turned a cherished household exercise, and so they usually experimented with totally different flavours and mixtures.
As Kitty grew assured in her baking abilities, she begun making the crepe desserts for her family and friends in Singapore. Surprisingly, none of them had heard of the dessert earlier than, however they have been quickly hooked by the distinctive style.
Their optimistic suggestions and encouragement led her to start out up Two Bake Boys, which was aptly named after her sons’ love for baking.
You will discover [Thai Milk Tea crepe cakes] in some well-known cafes in Bangkok. Nonetheless, none of my mates in Singapore knew the existence of this dessert again then. Beginning the enterprise is a manner for me to [bring more awareness] and share the dessert with extra folks.
– Kittiya Ratanajirasas, co-founder of Two Bake Boys
Pivoting to the F&B business
With simply S$200 and “no matter elements and tools” she had left in her kitchen, Kitty — who took a meals security course — started baking her crepe desserts from her household apartment, with the help of her husband who took care of deliveries and logistics.
Regardless of having no prior expertise within the F&B business, they have been decided to make a reputation for themselves and construct a loyal buyer base. To do that, they turned to social media to develop their attain and share their creations with a wider viewers.
As a small home-based enterprise, we knew that we needed to work laborious to determine ourselves out there and acquire the belief of our clients.
– Kittiya Ratanajirasas, co-founder of Two Bake Boys
On the time, Kitty needed to sacrifice her sleep and get up at 3am each day to create her tea-infused crepe desserts, that are very time-consuming to assemble and layer. The method takes as much as an hour and a half, and the cake requires a minimum of six hours to set within the fridge.
Whereas it units within the fridge, the mum of two spends one other 45 minutes cooking the Thai milk tea sauce, which requires fixed stirring. In consequence, she was solely capable of produce a restricted amount of desserts, with a most of 4 desserts a day and 15 desserts every week.
Although this will not look like loads, Kitty is grateful that her enterprise has given her a way of course and objective throughout difficult instances whereas producing extra earnings.
4 months since its inception, Two Bake Boys has seen a constant stream of orders, giving Kitty the boldness to maneuver to an even bigger area. She initially rented a landed property kitchen, which allowed her to extend her manufacturing fivefold from 4 to twenty desserts a day.
To satisfy the rising demand for his or her crepe desserts, the couple finally made the choice to depart their cabin crew jobs to concentrate on their quickly increasing enterprise. Nonetheless, Kitty admits that this determination got here after a lot deliberation.
We confronted many challenges and struggled with our lack of expertise in each baking and enterprise, and we’ve made quite a few errors and needed to study from them rapidly to be able to develop our enterprise.
There have been many moments of self-doubt and sleepless nights. Nonetheless, we refused to let these setbacks defeat us and as an alternative used them as motivation to push ourselves additional and enhance our choices.
– Kittiya Ratanajirasas, co-founder of Two Bake Boys
Two Bake Boys now produces as much as 100 crepe desserts each day
The couple’s perseverance and dedication to their craft paid off in probably the most rewarding manner. Right now, Two Bake Boys boasts two thriving shops, considered one of which is a a cafe-cum-baking studio that provides baking lessons for its clients, no matter age.
With their expanded infrastructure and staff of expert bakers, they now have the aptitude to churn out as much as 100 crepe desserts each day, and presents a wide range of locally-inspired crepe desserts, reminiscent of taro-flavoured ones.
With out disclosing their income figures, Kitty shared that they’ve been worthwhile and capable of cowl enterprise prices.
Along with their present operations, the enterprise is now exploring alternatives to develop their attain and develop their model by partnerships with different companies.
Wanting forward, Two Bake Boys plans to introduce a more healthy vary of desserts to cater to altering buyer preferences, in addition to develop abroad. Finally, Kitty desires to share her ardour for handcrafted desserts with the world, whereas showcasing the distinctive flavours of Singapore to a worldwide viewers.
Featured Picture Credit score: Two Bake Boys
