In 1933, a young Singaporean street food seller named Swee Ee Teo peddled the streets selling his freshly barbecued meat, called “bakkwa”.

Little did he know his street food would one day be regional business.

This is the story of  Bee Cheng Hiang, which now has 366 retail outlets across 11 markets and grew to be an icon in Singapore and the Asian market.

‍

⏰ Started as street food

He would walk the streets carrying a bamboo pole with two baskets – one with a charcoal grill and the other with freshly cooked bakkwa.

He’d also strategically set up his grill outside open-air opera sheds and other public entertainment areas. He’d sell extremely well there, especially during festive occasions.

‍

😋 What’s that smell?

People would constantly smell the aroma of his meats, and Swee Ee's humble operation quickly gained a loyal following among the locals.

In 1945, he earned enough to open his first brick-and-mortar store.

His belief in superstition and passion for calligraphy created the Bee Cheng Hiang brand name, with each character made of 9 calligraphy strokes, which means brand longevity in Chinese.

“Bee” meant that the meat was barbecued to perfection, “Cheng” meant that the tasty Bakkwa is addictive, and “Hiang’ means the irresistible aroma.

‍

🧠 Marketing genius?

He soon opened his second shop on Victoria Street, but the store was covered by parked trucks.

So, he came up with a solution. He paid the owner of the truck fleet to let him paint the Bee Cheng Hiang company name and logo on the trucks.

This not only made his Victoria Street store visible again but also promoted his brand across Singapore.

People thought Bee Cheng Hiang was some big, established company since they were seeing it all over!

‍

🧧 Leveraging the seasons

As he grew Bee Cheng Hiang throughout the decades, his strategy was to promote bakkwa as a Chinese New Year staple.

It became more and more popular over time. By the 1980s, business was booming, with revenue increasing 20% every year.

‍

🔑 Franchising is key

And by 1994, they launched a franchise program and after just a year, they had over 10+ international outlets in markets like Malaysia, Hong Kong, and China.

‍

💪🏼 Getting through a crisis

But the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 was a bad time.

After the hit, the company focused on two things: branding and R&D. They made the brand more modern and turned their stores into more cheerful and welcoming-looking places.

And they spent $1.2M SGD ($878,885) on R&D to improve and launch new products.

Now, they have different meat products, including chicken floss, chicken bakkwa, gourmet bakkwa, prawn rolls, crispy pork floss, cuttlefish, sausages, and more!

‍

💥 Bouncing back

When the early 2000s rolled around, the company became a multimillion-dollar business in Asia with over 30 outlets internationally.

Daniel Wong, Swee Ee Teo’s grand-nephew, who joined in 1993, is now the company’s Group General Manager.

‍

🫶🏻 Keeping a legacy alive

The secret to their popularity after over 90 years? High-quality products and attention to detail, while adapting to ever-changing consumer preferences.

Group GM Daniel Wong shares that they don’t make annual budgets for each department or have extra-high growth goals. They just want to open 2-3 more stores in each market each year.

He says that technology has raised customers’ expectations of quality and speed, so unless a brand delivers in both respects, it’ll face backlash on social media. That’s why they focus on quality.

They also keep to the same processes. No artificial colorings, MSG, or flavorings. And using the same bamboo–sieve roasting methods.

Daniel shared that they only believe in automating processes that can be done better with machines.

They won’t compromise quality in processes where human touch makes a difference.

‍

✨ Here and now

Over the decades, Bee Cheng Hiang has grown to become a leading player in the bakkwa market in Asia.

Today, they employ over 3,000 people and have 366 retail outlets across 11 markets.