Success
didn’t strike overnight, far from it. This one took patience, grit, and cool
business sense.
Tong
Heng had its beginnings on Keppel Road in the 1920s, where its founder was one
among many who peddled drinks, snacks, and biscuits to shipyard and other
blue-collar workers. By 1932 he had saved enough to open a restaurant on Smith
Street in Chinatown, selling dim sum. Dim sum was popular food, but competition
was again rough; so he streamlined his “business direction” and focused on the
bestsellers. Thus began the Tong Heng egg tart’s road to food stardom.
The
business today is into its third generation; headed by three sisters,
Constance, Rebecca, and Cynthia Fong. And, like many family businesses, it’s
managed in a decidedly non-corporate style. Decisions are made around the
family table; and since early recipes were not properly documented, the sisters
had to resort to research, and rounds of test cooking, to improve, and, finally
perfect, the family recipes.
But
they almost didn’t get to do it: their father didn’t want them involved in the
business initially. But then, community work bogged him down, and an accident
he suffered affected his running of the business.
The
sisters eventually took over, and their sheer hard work shows in the many
popular products sold over Tong Heng counters. Foods sold in their father’s day
today appear in new reinventions; and the sisters created and launched the
brand’s highly successful range of moon cakes in the late 1970s. They proudly
point out that their colored snow-skin moon cakes were the first of their kind
in Singapore, and featured four flavors: durian (yellow-skinned), strawberry
(pink), vanilla (white), and pandan (green).
Today,
with a staff of more than ten in the kitchen, and two retail outlets, the
company needs to produce thousands of their signature egg and coconut tarts and
other snacks, each day. Like the proud owners that they are, the three women
boast of their in-house-made ingredients, such as the red bean and lotus paste
fillings, the kayas, and dough.
Tong
Heng is today an instantly recognizable name; and, famed egg tart aside, its other
bestsellers include the coconut tart, char siew puff, and vegetarian
coin-biscuit. They have even introduced
Hong Kong-style desserts at their shops.
Tong
Heng
285
South Bridge Road
Singapore
058833
Tel: 6223 3649, 6223 0398