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Looking again on the pandemic, I’m positive there are lots of issues we’d reminisce and even miss in regards to the period. It was undoubtedly a time of many uncertainties and stresses, but additionally one which sparked loads of new concepts and companies.
As some say, challenges breed innovation. And when one door closes, one other might open.
Such is the case for couple Natsu and Felix, the founders of Divini Pastry, a quaint cafe in Puchong that started off as a pandemic-born enterprise.
Hotel to enterprise
Felix has all the time had a ardour for cooking. At 18, regardless of his dad and mom’ needs, he moved to Singapore to work in a ramen chain restaurant. Here, he labored his manner up and have become the youngest kitchen lead within the enterprise at age 21.
With a ardour for muffins and desserts, he pursued a diploma in pastry and would attend courses on days off. By the time he was nearly completed together with his diploma, Natsu, whose background is in advertising, had moved to Singapore too.
“After I graduated, I went for interviews but my confidence in my decision was shaken when I was faced with the reality of a steep 50% pay cut due to my change of career and lack of experience in pastries,” Felix admitted.
But Natsu inspired him to take the leap, providing to assist with each their residing bills in the meanwhile as she was making extra.
Yet, the pandemic modified issues. One day, Felix bought the fateful name that broke the disappointing information of a layoff.
“Like everyone else who was laid off during the pandemic, I was struggling to get another job in Singapore,” he shared.
At the identical time, Natsu’s firm was additionally going through monetary challenges. So, after discussions, the couple determined to return to Malaysia to start out a enterprise collectively.
“I’ve always been captivated by petite and bite-sized pastries and desserts,” Felix shared. “Being exposed to high tea during my time working for hotels, I realised that some of the desserts/confections served are commonly only available in high tea at hotels.”
“I wanted to make these luxury pastries/desserts more affordable to the common man.”
With that, Divini Pastry was born on the top of the pandemic.
Online to offline
Something that units Divini Pastry aside from different cafes is its specialisation in biscotti, which is a type of Italian almond biscuit.
Felix felt that biscotti was one of many least frequent choices amongst unique choices of excessive tea. As a double-baked cookie, it additionally has a really lengthy shelf life.
While its preparation course of is likely to be extra troublesome, this additionally means much less competitors available in the market. At the identical time, Felix felt like many Malaysians love biscuits and cookies, particularly throughout festive seasons.
With all these justifications, Divini Pastry began as an internet enterprise, solely specializing in solely biscotti and butter shortbread.
However, the couple confronted challenges with logistics because of the extraordinarily fragile nature of their biscotti. They tried all types of packaging and wrapping strategies, however their biscotti would all the time arrive crumbled. Thus, they resorted to delivering their items themselves.
Initially primarily based in Ipoh, they’d make journeys to the Klang Valley, the place most of their clients have been, as soon as each two weeks. Eventually, they acknowledged it was unsustainable in the long term.
With that recognition got here the concept to start out a bodily retail outlet as an alternative.
Serendipitously, Natsu’s mom had simply bought a store lot in Puchong for her workplace. The couple took on her supply to lease out the bottom flooring house, successfully resulting in Divini Pastry’s enlargement right into a bodily cafe mid-2022.
Biscotti to espresso
Divini Pastry has seven biscotti flavours to supply:
- Classic Tuscany (almond)
- Big Red Wolf (cranberry and wolfberry)
- Golden Jade (matcha and golden raisin)
- Oh Ferrero, (darkish chocolate and hazelnut)
- Cashew within the Dark (charcoal and cashew nut)
- Smells Like Happiness (pistachio and black sesame)
- Going Nuts (macadamia and pecan nut)
Other than biscotti, Divini Pastry additionally serves up bakes corresponding to Danish butter shortbread, focaccia, espresso bun, marble butter cake, and lemon chia seed cake, amongst different choices.
Their breakfast and lunch menus cowl quite a lot of sandwiches and wraps. For dessert, they do gelato and waffles together with their muffins.
The cafe additionally affords reservation-only excessive teas on Saturday and Sunday afternoons (1PM to 4PM). The three-course excessive tea has 4 rotating weekly menus, and is priced at RM98/pax for one individual, or RM88/pax for 2 folks and above.
But past serving biscotti and different delights, Divini Pastry’s aim is to develop Malaysia’s speculoos tradition.
Speculoos refers back to the conventional Belgian cookie that includes a spice mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. But for Felix and Natsu, speculoos tradition is all about having fun with the biscuit with a drink.
“Back then, during our younger days, I recall seeing biscuits being served together with coffee,” Felix recalled.
However, he felt like this tradition has disappeared, primarily because it’s an added price for the enterprise.
Hence, in an effort to convey this tradition again, Divini Pastry serves all their scorching espresso with a chunk of their biscotti on the facet.
“Ever since we started Divini Pastry, we started to notice more and more cafes serving speculoos at the side of their coffee, and have even been seeing biscotti in the market even more commonly nowadays, which is a good sign,” Felix expressed.
Bootstrapping to profiting
To begin Divini Pastry, Felix and Natsu put round RM40K of their very own financial savings into the enterprise.
“We prioritise quality and taste over profit margins which customers who have tasted our stuff can strongly attest to, and we (dare I say) give the warmest and friendliest service you’ll ever experience compared to many cafes in Malaysia,” he mentioned.
Today, the workforce proudly shared that their final audited annual income was within the excessive six figures, and that they’ve been worthwhile.
There’s nonetheless an extended approach to go for the couple, although. For one, they’ve but to discover a approach to bundle their biscotti with the least quantity of breakage.
To additional develop the enterprise, they’ll additionally want to rent enough and dependable manpower. Currently, the kitchen workforce consists of two members, together with Felix, whereas the entrance of the home is singlehandedly run by Natsu, although she’s aided by her household from time to time.
Expanding the workforce is an effort that’s already underway, although. With a bigger workforce, Divini Pastry goals to push ahead with its mission and change into a go-to model in the case of biscotti in Malaysia.
- Learn extra about Divini Pastry right here.
- Read different articles we’ve written about F&B companies right here.
Featured Image Credit: Divini Pastry
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