by Aude
Remember our recent crush on Sweet Fashion House ?
Well, after digging into French Master Patissier Gaël Majchrzak’s sweet delights, I thought it would be nice to seat with him and discuss the whys and hows of launching a new pastry brand in Hong Kong.
Hey Gaël, nice to meet you. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and how you ended-it up here launching Sweet Fashion House in Hong Kong?
To be honest, it has been a very fortunate chain of circumstances!
My background is hospitality. I have then taken training courses to learn fine gastronomy and have fallen in love with pastry, deciding to specialize in that sector.
Before moving to Hong Kong, I had my consulting firm dedicated to pastry related projects and have been lucky to travel the word and work on so many different concepts.
Around a year ago (summer 2017), a friend came to me introducing Sweet Fashion House. The investors, who are Russians and passionate about fine dining and pastry, were looking for someone to lead the project and this is how I ended up here. Lucky me, I wasn’t alone and came with people I’ve been working with before, which really helped on this very ambitious project.
We started being 3, 2 French guys and a French/Spanish one each of us having our very own expertise: logistic, pastry and chocolate making. And here we are, a year later with around 14 people in our central kitchen. We can say that it very clicked with the investors behind Sweet Fashion House, feels like we share the same passions and the same business opinions, and I am know working 100% for the brand.
Remember our recent crush on Sweet Fashion House ?
Well, after digging into French Master Patissier Gaël Majchrzak’s sweet delights, I thought it would be nice to seat with him and discuss the whys and hows of launching a new pastry brand in Hong Kong.
Hey Gaël, nice to meet you. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and how you ended-it up here launching Sweet Fashion House in Hong Kong?
To be honest, it has been a very fortunate chain of circumstances!
My background is hospitality. I have then taken training courses to learn fine gastronomy and have fallen in love with pastry, deciding to specialize in that sector.
Before moving to Hong Kong, I had my consulting firm dedicated to pastry related projects and have been lucky to travel the word and work on so many different concepts.
Around a year ago (summer 2017), a friend came to me introducing Sweet Fashion House. The investors, who are Russians and passionate about fine dining and pastry, were looking for someone to lead the project and this is how I ended up here. Lucky me, I wasn’t alone and came with people I’ve been working with before, which really helped on this very ambitious project.
We started being 3, 2 French guys and a French/Spanish one each of us having our very own expertise: logistic, pastry and chocolate making. And here we are, a year later with around 14 people in our central kitchen. We can say that it very clicked with the investors behind Sweet Fashion House, feels like we share the same passions and the same business opinions, and I am know working 100% for the brand.
What did you find the most challenging launching Sweet Fashion House in Hong Kong?
Well, pretty much everything was a challenge. We really started from scratch and had to launch quite quickly with a very small team. Doing everything by ourselves. But definitely, catering the needs and wishes of the local consumers isn’t something easy.
And the most rewarding?
I know finding the right staff can be a challenge in Hong Kong but I’ve been lucky, it has been working pretty well for me. I do find that our staff is very loyal and seems to love the brand and this is super rewarding.
How do you find inspiration for your creations?
Well, this is my job to create. Always imagining new recipes in my head. What I’ve been working on however is to create things which could please the local tastes. When I first arrived in Hong Kong, I’ve spent a lot of time just wandering the streets, trying different places around town, visiting the local wet markets …
But you know it’s funny. Sometimes you create something thinking it’s going to be a hit and it isn’t or the other way round. For example, the Paris-Hong-Kong: I first created it for myself. I’m French and I love the very traditional Paris-Brest so wanted to have a twist on this very French pastry. But I thought the Paris-Hong Kong would be too sweet for local people and would be more for expats. Well, it happens to be one of our best sellers!
We started with online first but having retail shops is great because it definitely makes it easier having people to try your creations. It also allows me to try different things and see the feedbacks from the consumers.
What are the next steps for Sweet Fashion House?
So many different things!
We are starting to develop a strong premium B2B offer and this is something I’m going to work on in the next few months. We have already been working with some prestigious clients such as Tory Burch, The Venetian in Macao or Morgan Stanley. But at the same time, working on the B2B is great but we can’t neglect the B2C. Hong Kong isn’t an easy market. There’s always something new and just because you got great feedbacks when opening doesn’t mean you are always going to be on top. You have to work hard and make sure to always implement new things because if you don’t, your competitors will. This love of local people for everything that is new is both a great opportunity and a quite hard challenge.
Another thing that we will definitely be looking out for in the future is too expand Sweet Fashion House both in Hong Kong and in Asia: Taipei, Mainland China and ideally Japan too.
On a more personal note, what are you fav places around town for:
Lunch: Dim Sum Library
A Fancy Dinner: Bo Innovation / A side B Side / Tokyolima
A weekend brunch: Hotel Icon
A weekend getaway: Tokyo
Well, pretty much everything was a challenge. We really started from scratch and had to launch quite quickly with a very small team. Doing everything by ourselves. But definitely, catering the needs and wishes of the local consumers isn’t something easy.
And the most rewarding?
I know finding the right staff can be a challenge in Hong Kong but I’ve been lucky, it has been working pretty well for me. I do find that our staff is very loyal and seems to love the brand and this is super rewarding.
How do you find inspiration for your creations?
Well, this is my job to create. Always imagining new recipes in my head. What I’ve been working on however is to create things which could please the local tastes. When I first arrived in Hong Kong, I’ve spent a lot of time just wandering the streets, trying different places around town, visiting the local wet markets …
But you know it’s funny. Sometimes you create something thinking it’s going to be a hit and it isn’t or the other way round. For example, the Paris-Hong-Kong: I first created it for myself. I’m French and I love the very traditional Paris-Brest so wanted to have a twist on this very French pastry. But I thought the Paris-Hong Kong would be too sweet for local people and would be more for expats. Well, it happens to be one of our best sellers!
We started with online first but having retail shops is great because it definitely makes it easier having people to try your creations. It also allows me to try different things and see the feedbacks from the consumers.
What are the next steps for Sweet Fashion House?
So many different things!
We are starting to develop a strong premium B2B offer and this is something I’m going to work on in the next few months. We have already been working with some prestigious clients such as Tory Burch, The Venetian in Macao or Morgan Stanley. But at the same time, working on the B2B is great but we can’t neglect the B2C. Hong Kong isn’t an easy market. There’s always something new and just because you got great feedbacks when opening doesn’t mean you are always going to be on top. You have to work hard and make sure to always implement new things because if you don’t, your competitors will. This love of local people for everything that is new is both a great opportunity and a quite hard challenge.
Another thing that we will definitely be looking out for in the future is too expand Sweet Fashion House both in Hong Kong and in Asia: Taipei, Mainland China and ideally Japan too.
On a more personal note, what are you fav places around town for:
Lunch: Dim Sum Library
A Fancy Dinner: Bo Innovation / A side B Side / Tokyolima
A weekend brunch: Hotel Icon
A weekend getaway: Tokyo