Awfully Chocolate makes Taipei comeback

It has found a new partner to sell simple chocolate cakes.

By JASON TAN
IN TAIPEI
Business Times Singapore

ON Sept 12, a typhoon started to ravage Taiwan, sending strong winds and rains into the island in the evening.

But over at Shi Da Road - a famous Taipei night market full of restaurants and value-buy shops - queues formed outside a cake shop at 3.30 pm, with people eagerly waiting to purchase half-priced chocolate cakes.

Franchised from Singapore's Awfully Chocolate, the new outlet made its debut that day by slashing the price of its chocolate cakes by half to NT$345 (S$15). All 300 pieces of cake were sold out by 7 pm, with the sales collections going to charity.

The marketing gimmick apparently worked, but it wasn't all smooth sailing when the home-grown Singapore firm first moved into Taiwan in 2006. The then Taiwanese franchisee breached the agreement by running the business in its own way and trying to set up a competing outlet, Lyn Lee, one of the owners of Awfully Chocolate, told BT on the opening day.

The first attempt into Taiwan's market thus hit a snag and it folded a year later, with lawsuits still ongoing in Taiwan and Singapore, the firm said.

But this time, Awfully Chocolate was determined to make a comeback.

After few months of negotiations and flights between Taipei and Singapore, Ms Lee sealed the deal with a new Taiwanese franchisee. 'Finding the perfect partner is like marriage. You have got to find someone with the right mind and right motive,' she said.

What unites them this time is their 'common love in serving simple chocolate cakes', she added.

Indeed, its Taiwanese partner Jocelin Lu chanced upon Awfully Chocolate when it first opened in Taipei. 'Our sweet tooth is picky and my friends and I just loved those cakes,' recalled Ms Lu, who later decided to talk to the Singapore firm for a possible partnership.

What both parties hit on was the concept of offering consumers dark chocolate cakes with a rich, original flavour and minus all the frills, she said. Customers will find only chocolate cakes and chocolate ice creams on sale here. 'As long as we follow what's agreed upon the licensing contract, the partnership will be fruitful,' Ms Lu added.

By end-2009, two more outlets are expected to serve dessert lovers in Taipei. And more expansion is in the pipeline, as Awfully Chocolate will see its first franchised outlet opening in Hong Kong next month.

Set up in 1998, the Singapore firm currently has six branches on local shores, with locations including VivoCity and Republic Plaza. Other overseas outlets are in Jakarta, Shanghai and Beijing.

This article was first published in The Business Times on September 22, 2008.