The Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) is here, bringing families and friends gather together to feast on bak zhang (rice dumplings). When asked to name a famous bak chang or kueh chang (as the Peranakans will call it) brand in Singapore, Kim Choo Kueh Chang always comes up among the top favourites!
With a heritage that spans over 70 years, the business is now helmed by its third-generation owners – Edmond Wong and his siblings. They continue the legacy of their grandma, Mdm Lee Kim Choo, and stay true to the recipes that she passed down. Kim Choo Kueh Chang is more than just rice dumplings. It is the tie that binds Edmond’s family as they come together to run the business. It is also a proud purveyor of Peranakan traditions!
As the business modernises, Edmond sees the need to better manage the operation with a smart POS system. Discover how the switch to Qashier POS solutions empowers Kim Choo Kueh Chang. Check out the charm of the heritage brand and how it continues to be a mainstay in Singapore’s culinary scene: https://www.kimchoo.com/
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Transcript:
So eating rice dumplings has always been a custom and tradition for the Chinese. We don’t just eat rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival season.
It’s (Qashier solutions) very convenient for me to know which product sells best, at which time. This really helps us with production. My name is Edmond Wong. I’m the third generation business owner of Kim Choo Kueh Chang. Well, we started using Qashier early this year. I chanced upon it from social media. I saw the features that came with their functions.
I thought, hey, this is something that I could possibly explore and work with. So we’ve been around since 1945. This business started off from my grandma, Madam Lee Kim Choo. And Kueh Chang is the Peranakan way of saying rice dumplings.
When Singapore gained independence, the first political leaders helped my grandma to get a bank loan to service a shophouse along 60 Joo Chiat Place. And this is where we’ve always been.
My grandma first started the business out of poverty. She really needed to find a way to bring up her family. And back then she only had the culinary skills passed down to her from her maternal grandma.
So our signature has always been our Nyonya rice dumplings. My grandma first started selling Nyonya rice dumplings under a Banyan tree. But eventually, you know, people got to know her rice dumplings. And synonymously, if you talk about rice dumplings, Kim Choo comes to mind.
Eventually, when my parents came into the picture, they thought, you know, we have more hands now. And so that’s why we bring out our grandma’s recipes. All of them.
Now, today, we’re not just only a rice dumpling making business, we are also a heritage business. And so what that means is that we are promoting not only our family culture, but the culture that belongs to the Peranakans, that belong to this island.
We’ve used various POS systems but various POS systems require us to use different hardwares and softwares. But with Qashier, it was seamless because it’s just one device and everything goes to the cloud.
Having being able to forecast the need to produce X amount of rice dumplings in a given day is really, really very important for us. And I could very easily get those data from my mobile phone.
Having logged into the cloud and just monitor. Their tech support is really good too. They respond really quickly. You know, you would just need to write them a WhatsApp message and they would respond to you almost like within five, ten minutes.
I think what’s more important is not only about savouring and appreciating the food, but knowing that we can come together as families or friends.
There’s a reason to gather.