Founder BKT Allegedly Opening New Outlet in Chengdu, China, As Travel Between 2 Countries Looks to Open Up

Last Updated on 2020-10-01 , 5:35 pm

(Update on 5:35am, 1 Oct 2020: Founder BKT has confirmed with Goody Feed that the new outlet is a franchise model agreement sealed early last year and that opening was also actually planned early this year before COVID-19 hit.)

The headline shouldn’t have caused any hoo-ha. A home-grown restaurant expanding overseas? What a splendid piece of news!

That is, unless, one of the restaurants is Founder BKT—which didn’t do anything wrong except that its owner made an online plea a few months back for people to visit the chain as “we might not make it for the many more 42 years to come” as business allegedly dropped by 85%.

Well, so two things could’ve happened: they solved their cashflow problem so well, it completely “over-solved” the problem and even provided more funds for them to expand overseas.

The other possibility?

It was a good marketing campaign.

Founder BKT Allegedly Opening New Outlet in Chengdu, China, As Travel Between 2 Countries Looks to Open Up

So, yesterday, The Straits Times published this article:

Ah, nothing new. Just another piece of information we need to know but didn’t click in to know because we just click on articles about Dee Kosh or Xiaxue.

In the report, new minister Dr Tan See Leng spoke at the 21st Singapore-Sichuan Trade and Investment Committee Meeting, and the topic was obviously about travel between the two countries.

At this moment, the fast lane with China comprises just six areas: Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Tianjin and Zhejiang.

And they’re looking to revive passenger traffic and increase direct air services between Singapore and Chengdu, a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan that has a population of over 16 million people.

Okay, nothing’s new.

There are several Singapore businesses in Sichuan, so it’d be a win-win situation for a green lane to be established.

In fact, Singapore is Sichuan’s largest foreign investor so far.

Also, more small businesses in Singapore are looking to expand to Sichuan.

One of them is Putien, a home-grown restaurant chain that’s started by a Putien native who came to Singapore in 2000. The chain now has 13 outlets in Singapore, and it’s also expanded to China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Another example?

Founder BKT, which needs no introduction. This is when it gets a tad…tricky.

They’re allegedly opening their first outlet in western China with Chengdu as their first stop.

It should be noted that the chain does have an international presence even before the saga occurred; according to their website, they’ve an outlet in China, one in Indonesia, one in Taiwan and one in Vietnam.

Thread in Hardwarezone

A thread in Hardwarezone that discusses about this has nothing but harsh words.

As of now, Founder BKT still have the controversial post on their Facebook Page. In fact, they’ve pinned it to the top of the page even when the promotion is over.

What Happened Earlier?

When Covid-19 wasn’t around, their outlets are bustling with business, providing food so good even megastar Jay Chou visits them every time he’s in Singapore:

As well as stars like JJ Lin and S.H.E (for the non-boomers, S.H.E is the Blackpink of the early 2000s):

On 15 July 2020, owner of Founder Bak Kut Teh, Nigel Chua, took to the business’s various social media accounts to air their difficulties.

Over the past five months, he said that Founder Bak Kut Teh has experienced an 85% drop in revenue.

If the situation doesn’t get better “in the next 2 months”, Founder Bak Kut Teh might be shutting down.

Highlighting that they have been operating for 42 years, he said that there’s a possibility that they “might not make it for the many more 42 years to come”.

In a last attempt to save their brand, Founder Bak Kut Teh will be giving “over 30%-off curated sets” for customers dining-in from 17 Jul to 17 Aug 2020.

It’s also a way for the brand to thank customers for their support throughout these years, he added.

He ended off his post with a sincere plea for help from members of the public, not through donations or charity, but to come in and let them serve you with their food and have a great time.

People then criticised him, saying that many businesses are also suffering. They took issue with his purportedly luxury lifestyle.

Nigel has since responded to the comments.

Back then, he said that he would try to save as many outlets as possible, adding, “I’ve helped my father for over twenty years in this business, and we started it from scratch. My father said that we should persist and save as many outlets as possible; if not, we should close down each outlet one by one.”

And as for the allegations about his lifestyle, he added, “Some people claimed that we live in a big house and drive big cars. But what they’re seeing is just the surface; we earned them with hard work. Whoever is in the F&B industry will know about the long working hours and how tough it is. Those comments sadden me.”

As of now, it doesn’t appear that any outlet has closed down.

Read Also: Diners Are Also Fined $300 for Not Wearing Mask After Eating As 8 More F&B Outlets Told to Close