English report 2

No. Contents Page number

.1 Key Summary 2

2. Methodology 3 – 4

3. History of Baking 5 – 6

4. Victoria Bakery 7 – 8

5. Yummy Kitchen 9 - 10

6. Comparative Analysis 11

7. Table of Similarities between Victoria Bakery Café and Yummy Kitchen

12

8. Table of Differences between Victoria Bakery Café and Yummy Kitchen

13

9. Recommendation 14 - 15

10. References 16

11. Bibliography 17

12. Appendix 18 - 32

Table of Content

Key Summary

FNBE APR 2014 – English II (ENG30605)

In this English assignment, students were required to prepare a report on comparative

analysis of two business of similar industry that are located at two different places. Our group

has chosen to focus on the bakery businesses. We have chosen to compare the bakery named

Victoria Bakery Café that is located in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur and Yummy Kitchen that is

located in Ipoh, Perak. These two bakery shops have their own specialties and techniques in

producing their food. At the end of this report, it is found that both bakery are very

successful this is because there are not many competitions around their bakery; both of them

is said to have oligopoly.

Methodology


Yummy Kitchen

Victoria Bakery Cafe

To start off our research on what business we wanted to do a research on, we had a meeting

together to brainstorm and come up with ideas and suggestions. Ultimately, we all decided to

do on bakery as we knew that bakery always have interesting cakes and bread.

We did our research on the bakeries that weren’t established yet but at the same time have

different branches around Malaysia. Besides that, we also tried asking around family

members and friends if they any bakery shops they could introduce to us.

It was a challenge when we couldn’t settle down with interview due to not responsive emails

and rejects of bakery owners. One of them was Ms Angeline the owner and manager of the

bakery Frisky Goat that is located in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. Though it was tough, we manage

to set up an interview at Victoria Bakery Cafe and Yummy Kitchen though connections from

friends and relatives.

For the interview, we decided to divide the group into two. Thus making it more effective and

faster to get our interview done and start our report. The first group that consists of Christina

Ng, Yong Yu Joon, Saba Sanei and Chai Chin Ee interviewed Sook Yee, the manager of

Victoria Bakery Café located in Cheras at the same time, the second group that consists of

Liew Jin, Oscar Wong and Liew Yu Xian interviewed Ms Kellen Law the manager of

Yummy Kitchen located in Ipoh.


Thankfully, both the interview went extremely well and the owners of both the bakeries were

nice, polite and very humble. They attend to us very well and answered all the questions as

best as they could. The two owners were ladies and they both could speak fluent English

therefore giving us the opportunity to communicate better. It was differently a privilege to be

able to interview them about their successful baking business.

For the report, we also divided the part equally among everyone and compiled it once it was

completed. We discussed and finalized the whole report together and clarified everyone’s

part of the verbal presentation that we have to present of our report.

History on Baking


Fire was one of the greatest discoveries for human’s life. Humans could get lots of benefit

from its light, heat and flame. At the same time they started to use fire for barbequing

something to eat. The first beards were produced around 2000 BC. Egyptians invented the

grinding materials, enclosed earthenware baking containers and crude ovens. They knew how

to make fermented bread somehow from Babylonians.

The cakes back then were totally different from what we are eating nowadays; they were

more like bread and sweetened with honey, nuts and some other dried fruits often.

Ancient Egyptians had a variety of ingredients to bake bread. Using only a specific species of

wheat and almost any cereal was suitable. Depending on the type of flour the texture and

structure of a loaf could be totally different.


According to the popular beliefs the sweets were baked to soften the God’s anger and get

their compassion. After times, the sweets and desserts mostly produced for celebrations and

special festivals and these were seen for rich man’s food.

Nearly 300 BC after developing baking the Romans created a position of the pastry baker as

an occupation meanwhile it was a highly respected profession.

This invention, the new way of making food and deserts became widely known through

Europe, eastern parts and Asia.

Baking powder in some ways was a great treasure for bakers in the ways of baking cakes,

breads and deserts. It was introduced in 1856 and about 12 years later something new made

the life easier for this profession with the name of “Commercial Yeast”.

Over years the new mechanical mixers were invented and exciting trends have been

established, the ingredients had increased with countless varieties and slowly this is how this

yummy bakery shops produce delicious cakes and deserts.

The Timeline Of Baking


Victoria Bakery Café

The owner of Victoria Bakery Café, Ms Yong Sook Yee named this bakery after a state in

South-East Australia, Victoria where she herself and her husband had their tertiary education.

Even though the married couple only met here in Malaysia, they decided to take the name

Victoria because her husband had his first baking course there. Their business started off

quite small due to tight budget thus they only had 3 workers with them when they started in

the year 2009. Unfortunately, neither the husband nor the wife had an inspiration to motivate

them to start their business.

Their recipe’s are not specific, they would only use recipe books as references but besides

that, they don’t really have a specific source where they get their recipes from. Their

priorities are the technique applied in each and every break and cake that they sell. Currently

their bakery is located in Taman Segar Perdana, Cheras, Selangor and at the same time they

have another same bakery branch at Pandan Indah and also a kitchen. In total, this couple is

managing 2 bakery and a kitchen. They have around 30 employees until date. This has been a

major development and progress ever since they started in 2009 with only 3 staff.

Their main product is bread. They have around 25-20 different types of bread and it range

from mini buns to grab and go breads until a whole load of bread. The number of customers

the bakery attracts is about 5 – 6 pax /hour and up to 250 pax/day. Their bakery attracts

mainly the young couples and small kids whether their parents can buy for their kids to take

to school or as snacks at home.


These are the examples of bread and cakes that they’re selling at their bakery. Prices of the

cakes range from RM1.30 – RM 65 and the prices of the bread ranges from RM3.30 and

above. Their kitchen will open from 8am and they would start baking the breads until mid

afternoon. Cakes and pies are baked according to the selling of their cakes and will restock

them when finished. Whereas for the bread, they are made and baked daily to maintain the

freshness of the bread.

The seating capacity of Victoria Bakery Café is around 10 people because customers usually

grab and go. Drinks are also served there so that customers can have their tea time in the café

especially during evening.


Yummy Kitchen

The owner of Yummy Kitchen, Ms Kellen Law named her bakery as it is because she wants

to imply to her customers that she is selling good and authentic tasty food and it is easier for

everyone to remember whether they are literate or illiterate. Her business started due to her

kind heart of wanting to share the food that she has learned to make from her hobbies which

are baking and cooking. Thus she wanted to share the origin of her recipe to her customers.

She got her inspiration of baking from her father and grandfather as they were chef and she

had started baking at the age of 12 years old. Her bakery Yummy Kitchen was established in

2002.

Her recipes are a collection from different sources. Some of them came from the teachings of

her father and grandfather while some other recipes came from the experiences she had when

she went overseas to study bakery and from there, she has learned different techniques and

recipes from various chef masters and imply them in the food that she is now selling in her

bakery. She also gets her recipes from inspiration from different places and creates her own

ideas and test them out to see if the specific recipe or technique works in her food.

The current location of her bakery is at main town of Ipoh. She only has one branch and is

still considering whether to expand her business. She started out small with 2-3 workers and

she trains them well thus they already know what needs to be done. Nevertheless, she still

manage the bakery herself and she takes charge of the whole bakery.


The

above

pictures

shows the variety of food she is selling at her bakery. A unique feature of her bakery is that it

is also combined with a restaurant as said earlier her second hobby is cooking. Beside that

she also sells festive cookies for example like Chinese New Year is coming soon and she has

already started cooking the fillings of her cookies that she makes from organic and authentic

ingredients. The price of her bakery food range from RM 3 to RM15.

The number of customers the bakery attracts is around 20-25pax/day and these customers are

usually young families and small kids due to the tuition centres around the area as her

location is around shop lots.

Her plan for the future of Yummy Kitchen is relocate to a bigger area where it had easier

access to parking and also to have a small section in her bakery to set up a café where

customers can relax and have their tea time there.

Comparative Analysis


The advantage that both the bakeries have is that neither the bakeries have competition

around them. The 2 ladies were very smart at choosing their locations when they initially

opened their bakeries. They had chosen locations that didn’t have a lot of cafés and restaurant

so that they wouldn’t have to face competition among themselves.

For Victoria Bakery Café, there were 2 competition that it used to face. One was that there

was a bakery opened opposite her bakery but it has closed down many years ago due to

lacking of business. That bakery was as modern as Victoria Bakery due to reasons of not

having a very healthy approach but more of just doing a normal bakery business. Another

competition that she faces is a corner coffee shop just down the road. It is not a bakery shop

but a food court that has a small store that sells biscuit and breads. That stall is open for a

very short duration which is during lunch hours.

As for Yummy Kitchen, there are no competitors so far in Ipoh. Yummy Kitchen is

the only bakery that sells not only homemade organic bread and cakes, but also organic

ingredients for baking, baking utensils and also cooking. Basically it’s kind of a win-win

situation because through what she have observed, the other bakeries in Ipoh are usually only

selling normal pastries like what normal bakeries do where else Yummy Kitchen has both.

This doesn’t only attract the young bakers and parents, but also the people who wants to buy

organic ingredients for their home cook food.

Table of Similarities between Victoria Bakery Café and Yummy Kitchen


Victoria Bakery Café Yummy Kitchen

Originality of the

breads

Handmade

Chief Baker The owner

Food approach Healthy ( Organic, no preservatives, no colouring and no flavouring )

Number of

competitions

None

Types of

advertisement

Word of mouth

Environment around

the area

Busy, located in a shop lot

Customer base Young families

Kitchen style Modern

Quality of the bread Daily baked bread with nice packaging

Type of product Breads (own cooked filling) , cookies , cake (bake while have order) , tarts

Table of Differences between Victoria Bakery Café and Yummy Kitchen


Victoria Bakery Café Yummy Kitchen

Originality of the recipes From the owner Passed down from previous

generations. ( 3 generations)

Managing the bakery Workers runs the place but owner

will sometimes see things through

Owner in charge of most of the

things and worker are trained to

assist the owner

Number of staff +/- 30 (some of them have been

with the bakery from the start

2-3 and most are family members

Price range >RM3 - <RM70 >RM3 - <RM20

Average customers +/- 250 pax/ day +/- 25 pax/ day

Specialties Nothing Festive

Location Cheras, KL Ipoh, Perak

Business owner Husband and Wife Single lady

Number of branches 2 bakery and 1 kitchen None

Recommendation


For Victoria Bakery Café the basic needs are all well prepared. Food there was well packed

and sealed tightly. Ingredients used for baking are also organic and healthy. Overall, the food

in Victoria Bakery Café are towards a fresh and healthy approach. Cleanliness of the bakery

is also quite well maintained. There are workers there to always keep an eye on the

cleanliness of the floor and the leftover drink packaging on the table. The workers there are

also very sufficient. Lastly, it is easy to find car park there as there are sufficient amount of

car parks provided around the bakery shop.

Among the things that can be improved in Victoria Bakery Café is the spacing in the bakery

itself. Because the shop lot itself is small, thus a lot of things are a bit cramped up. Actions

will be taken soon as they are currently considering to relocate to a shop that is bigger but

still around Cheras. Besides that, they should also increase the number of seating capacity in

the bakery. There is only one long table provided and this cannot accommodate a lot of

customers. Therefore, in our opinion if they increase their seating capacity, they will be able

to attract more customers.


As for Yummy Kitchen, they had the advantage of having a lot of seating capacity. This is

because their bakery is combined with a restaurant which also belongs to them. There are

sufficient number of tables and chairs to accommodate up to 40 people. Moreover, the

furnishing there is very traditional and this maintains the traditional olden day vibe in the

bakery itself. It is very comfortable and home-like there thus it is not too commercialized in

the bakery itself.

On the other hand, there are also things that needs to be improved. Among them are the

services. Workers there don’t attend to the customers as efficient as they should. They are

more focused on the things they need to maintain for example whether there are enough

bread and cakes for display or whether they need to bake more because it is sold out. This is

partially caused due to the lacking in number of workers. As said previously, they only have

3 workers and they are all family members. In addition, this will also cause the lack of variety

of bread and cakes in their shop. This limits the customers in choosing what they want to buy

and take away. Lastly, the location on the place is very hectic. This is caused by the high

density of cars around the area. To find a parking spot there will be very difficult.

Bibliography


Griffin,R., & Ebert,R. (1991). Business (2nd ed.) . Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice

Hall.

(2013, ). Egypt Travel Guide – Tour Egypt. Bread in Ancient Egypt. Retrieved

January 8,2015 from http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bread.htm

ITALIAN BREAD. (1989, September 28). The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 12,

2015, from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8140008.html?

Bakeries & Pastry Shops in Ipoh. (n.d.). Retrieved January 12, 2015, from

http://www.exploring-malaysia.com/bakaries-ipoh.htm

References


http://www.exploring-malaysia.com/bakaries-ipoh.htm

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8140008.html

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/bread.htm

(n.d.). Fred Pfister Consulting – Bakery Consultant. History of Baking and Pastry

Cooking. Retrieved January 8, 2015, from

http://www.pfisterconsulting.com/history.htm

(2013,). Baking Times / Excellence in the baking industry. History of Baking.

Retrieved January 8,2015, from http://www.bkingtimes.co.za/articles/history-of-

baking/25

(2013,). Food Malaysia Retrieved from http://foodmsia.com/2013/11/victoria-bakery-

cafe-taman-segar-perdana-cheras/

Law, K. (2015, January 10). Personal Interview

Yong, S.Y. (2015, January 10). Personal Interview

Appendices


http://foodmsia.com/2013/11/victoria-bakery-cafe-taman-segar-perdana-cheras/

http://foodmsia.com/2013/11/victoria-bakery-cafe-taman-segar-perdana-cheras/

http://www.bkingtimes.co.za/articles/history-of-baking/25

http://www.bkingtimes.co.za/articles/history-of-baking/25

http://www.pfisterconsulting.com/history.htm

Appendix 1

Transcript of Victoria Bakery Cafe

Q: Why the name Victoria Bakery?

A: It’s actually not my name. Its actually name after a state in Australia, Melbourne where me and my husband had our tertiary education there. I had my degree there and he had his first baking course there.

Q: So that was where you and your husband met?

A: Err… No. We met here.

Q: How did your business start?

A: It started out quite small and financially we were pretty tight. This is the place where it all started the same bakery and within our budget constrain we could only afford three staff in the kitchen. Including my husband, for the bread division. And for the cake division, he hired one part timer and one full timer and also a few service staff as well.

Q: Where did your desire to bake come from?

A: It’s actually my husband, not me. I don’t bake at all!

Q: When was it established?

A: It was established in 2009. We were rushing for Mother’s Day at that time. We wanted to do our opening during Mother’s day.

Q: About your recipe, where do you get your recipe from?

A: Okay, if you’re in this line long enough, you would know that recipes are not important. To us recipes are only for reference purposes. We don’t really follow bulat-bulat from the recipe book. Even if I give to my staff the same recipe, both of them might end up doing something different. So you must be smart enough to twist and turn a bit.

Q: Are all of them handmade?


A: Yeah!

Q: Are the techniques used to bake passed on from generations or are they all from learning experience?

A: No, they are all from learning experience, There is nobody in the baking field.

Q: How do you run things in the bakery?

A: With a lion’s fist! Haha no no, just joking! Nowadays we tend to delegate task to the staff. Because now as the business grow, we cannot monitor everything. So most of the time we delegate to the staff and there is a head for each division.

Q: How big is your organization now? How many staff do you have?

A: We have about, 30 staff. Plus minus 30 staff. We have two branches and a kitchen.

Q: The other branch is also the same bakery?

A: Yes, yes. In Taman Indah.

Q: Do you have a special baker? Or the main head of the whole kitchen?

A: My husband. He is the chief baker.

Q: How do you manage your bakery? In cleanliness or staff?

A: The workers pretty much know what to do already. Some staff have been with us for quite some time. Most of them actually. The longest one is about $ years because we only started operating in 2009 and that is five years now? So some of them stay with us for four years plus already. The old ones will always lead the new ones.

Q: Why did you choose to open the bakery in this location?

A: Here? First of all, as I have told you is budget constrain. The rental her is cheap and besides that, we prefer a new residential area. With a lot of young families and a lot of young kids. We prefer young families because I know college kids don’t really eat bread, they don’t really like bread. So with younger kids, parent will buy for them to go to school and all that.


Q: Are you toward a healthy approach?

A: Yeah! There is no preservatives and no colouring and no artificial flavouring.

Q: What are your strategies in expending your business? Are you planning to expand your business?

A:Yeah. First of all location is very important, that’s what we have been searching for. And of course, man power. Yeah that’s all.

Q: How do you advertise your business?

A: Word of mouth, we don’t really advertise. Through customers. Yeah!

Christina: Okay, that’s about it. Thank you very much!

Sook Yee: Sure Sure, no problem!

Appendix 1

Transcript of Yummy Kitchen


Q : Why did you name it Yummy Kitchen?

A : Because I just want to share delicious food, you know? That’s why when we wanted to name our shop, we just wanted the next generation to taste the original authentic tasty food. The name is also easy to remember despite your age or even if you’re illiterate.

Q : How did your business start?

A : I would like to share all of my recipe with the world, that is why we started this shop

Q : Where did you get the inspiration from?

A : I started baking at a very young age, probably due to the fact that both my father and my grandfather are bakers

Q : When was this bakery established?

A : In the year 2002

Q : Where did you get the recipes from?

A : Some are passed on from generation to generation, others I learned it from chefs from all over the world. I also created a few of the recipes whenever I have the inspiration.

Q : Now the management side of things, how do you run the bakery?

A : Most of the workers I hired have undergone special training from me, but occasionally I would have to personally handle one or two stations.

Q : Why did you choose to open a bakery outside of KL?

A : Because I am an Ipoh person? Haha… I chose this place because it is nearby my house.

Q : Why did you combine this bakery with selling organic stuff?


A : I just want people to eat healthily. Other than baking I love cooking so I like to educate people to use original ingredients, because prior to this I was in the Insurance line, and I realized that people start to fall ill when they are close to their 40s. This is mostly because of the food they eat, if we control our diet then our health would be a lot better.

Q : Are there any competition for your bakery?

A : At the moment, no. There’s only an organic shop that provide wholemeal bread and mooncake.

Q : What is the price range of one of your bread

A : The price range is about RM3 something to RM10 per piece

Q : How is the environment here? Who are your usual customers?

A : There are tuition centres and dance studios around this area. So most of my customers are parents of the children that take up classes nearby. People that stay nearby are also customers.

Q : How many people on average come into your shop per day?

A : Normally there’ll be about 20 customers per day. There will be more customers during the weekends

Q : What is the population of this area?

A : There are only 600,000+ people in the whole Perak.

Q : Is the kitchen a modern one or a traditional one?

A : A modern one.

Q : How is the quality of the food?

A : Most of the food are freshly baked daily. As for the presentation, I am a bit choosy, so most of my products will be nicely packed and presented that way


Q : What are the other types of food that you sell?

A : We have bread. We also order cakes. Sometimes we do make tarts. During festive season, we’ll sell festive products.

Q : Do you advertise your business in any way?

A : At the moment I don’t do any advertisement. It is all through the recommendation of customers to their friends.

Q : Lastly what can you improve on this bakery?

A : I hope I could find a bigger place so that I can have a bigger parking lot. Also, I would like to extend my bakery and add another small café and cook meals for the customers. That is another one of my dreams. I hope I can find a more strategic location to establish Yummy Kitchen.

Appendix 2

Photos

Victoria Bakery Café


The front entrance of Victoria Bakery Café

Simple menu list displayed for customers


Kitchen. Where the staff bakes bread and cakes

Recycle materials used to make the stand where they display their breads


The only table they have for customers to have their tea time

Different types of cakes they make and decorate.

Top: small cakes and pie (RM 2 – RM 8)

This a whole cake for birthdays or event.

(RM38 – RM 65)

Appendix 2

Photos

Yummy Kitchen


Figure 1 : handmade cup cake from the owner. It's soft and delicious. The sweetness of the cupcake is just nice.

Figure 2 : Some handmade bread that created by the owner herself. Alfafa Roll's filling is Tuna mix with beansprout and the paper bun taste like paper but it's special and delicious.

Figure 3 : Some homemade Chinese New Year festival


cookies/biscuit that ready for sell. Yummy bakery also accept pre-order of the cookies/biscuits

Figure 4 : Some organic product that Yummy bakery selling. Most of these are organic material to make cakes, breads, cookies and etc.


Figure 5 : Yummy's kitchen is a simply & modern home-based kitchen which have few baking instrument only.

Figure 6 : The Yummy bakery located at a commercial street which most of the workers are the customer sources

Figure 7 : The sliced loaf bread are ready to be pack and sell.


Figure 8 : The buns are cooling down and prepare to be pack

Appendix 3

Minutes 1

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

DATE: 2/1/2015TIME: 11.30am – 1.30pmVENUE: Taylors Lakeside Campus


NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS TUTORIAL GROUP

ROLE

Christina Ng ThursdayYong Yu Xian TuesdayChai Chin Ee TuesdaySaba Sanei ThursdayLiew Jin MondayOscar Wong Monday

Minutes 2

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

DATE: 10/1/2015TIME: 8.30am – 1.30pmVENUE: Taylors Lakeside Campus


NO.

ACTIVITY ACTION TAKEN BY

1. Meeting on what business to do All members

2. Research on the bakeries in KL and other states

All members

3. Finalizing who to interview All members

NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS TUTORIAL GROUP

ROLE

Christina Ng ThursdayYong Yu Xian TuesdayChai Chin Ee TuesdaySaba Sanei ThursdayLiew Jin MondayOscar Wong Monday


NO.

ACTIVITY ACTION TAKEN BY

1 Short meeting to clarify task

All members

2 Interview All members3 Post mortem All members

English report 2

Education

Transcript of English report 2