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VANILLA CREPE’S LAYERS OF LOVE Like the lovely layers of the crepe cake all stacked up neat and tall, CEO and Founder of Vanilla Mille Crepe Kitchen Sdn Bhd and Ezzybucks Sdn Bhd NELSON LIEW has been adding retail outlet over retail outlet even in the thick of the pandemic. He shares with RACHAEL PHILIP what worked.
enerally, when one has succumbed to the gentle promptings of the heart and is already indulging in a generous slice of dessert, one does not spoil the moment by counting calories. But that was not to be. Nelson Liew, CEO and Founder of Vanilla Crepe™, is eager to do the math for me. However, like well whipped cream, the numbers do not break the mood but hold up and add to the crescendo that is swelling within me. “A slice of a regular cheese cake is about 400 calories but the Vanilla Crepe™ Original Flavour packs in just 220 calories. You can burn off the 220 calories by doing 25-30 minutes on the treadmill,” he offers. Not sinful after all! This nicely compliments the next two facts he shares: ‘Desserts’ is stressed spelled backwards; and, it has been proven that in times of crisis people eat more desserts.
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CRISIS-PROVEN BUSINESS At the time of the interview, some 500 days into the pandemic, Vanilla Crepe™ has grown to 35 outlets, opening Malaysia Retailer Vol 9 No 3
roughly one outlet per month during the pandemic. At the start of the pandemic, however, things certainly didn’t look this sweet. “On March 17 2020, when the government announced the first lockdown, we were extremely worried. This meant that overnight we would see our business crumble as 70% of our outlets were located in shopping malls,” says Nelson. “If we counted on the courier companies for delivery of our products, we stood to lose a hefty 30% of our revenue. At the end of the day, we would be losing profit from every single slice of cake we sold.” The outcome of a quick brainstorming session with his team showed that, in order to move forward, they had to overhaul their strategy and introduce new marketing initiatives. “What was our big, blue ocean? We decided to capture new market share by putting our products online. We were not just selling cakes and desserts but emotions and moments of love. “We received positive response. The people in the service industry for instance, insurance and real estate agents, who wanted to remain
