Comparing Dessert Businesses in Different Locations

SCHOOL OF
ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
REPORT TITLE: A Comparative Analysis of 2 Businesses of Similar
Industry in Different Geographical Locations
ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)
LECTURER: MR. GOPIGHANTAN MYLVAGANAM
SUMMISION & PRESENTATION DATE: 15 JANUARY 2016
Name Presentation/Research report role
LOH MUN TONG (0323680)
Artistic cover, cover page, table of content,
key summary, comparative analysis(Haraju
Cube), appendix 1-3 and compilation of
report.
TAN JIA SAN (0322406) Brief Description (Haraju Cube), Appendix 4
and References
LEONG LI JING (0323628) Brief description (Sweet Hug House)
CALVIN WONG PING KET
(0322481)
Video editing (Sweet Hug House),
Recommendation, Bibliography & Obstacles
face by new business enter the market
KIEW CHEE YUAN (0323297) Competitors, strategy, Comparison of Both
Business (Sweet Hug House)
THAM KAI LOON (0323593) Presentation slides
LOW WING CHUN (0323315) Video editing (Haraju Cube)
LOH MUN TONG (0323680) l TAN JIA SAN (0322406) l LEONG LI JING (0323628) l
CALVIN WONG PING KET (0322481) l KIEW CHEE YUAN (0323297) l THAM KAI LOON
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TABLE OF CONTENT
TOPIC PAGE
KEY SUMMARY 3
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORY OF 4
DESSERT BUSINESS
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESSES 5 - 6
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE 7 - 18
BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS
RECOMMENDATION 19
BIBLIOGRAPHY 20
APPENDICES 21 – 42
REFERENCE 43
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KEY SUMMARY
We were assigned to conduct a comparative research.
Throughout our research, eating dessert is a blooming trade. The first
dessert shop is situated in Kampar, a town that has turned into a
bustling education hub as University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) was
set up, and the second interview we did is in the posh area of Kuala
Lumpur, Empire Damansara. Empire Damansara is a new mixed
development that aims to satisfy business and lifestyle needs.
Therefore, it has become a new attraction in Kuala Lumpur. Gradually
the name of the dessert shops are Sweet Hug House and Haraju Cube.
The aim of this research is to compare between these dessert shop
businesses in terms of business strategies, number of competitors,
geographical location, number of branches, main product, revenue and
daily number of customers.
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Description of history of desserts business
Dessert is a course that is included in a main meal, and the word
‘dessert’ is originated from French word ‘desservir’ which mean of “to
clean the table”. Usually desserts include mostly sweet food, but may
include coffee, cheese, nuts of other savours. Fruit is commonly found
in dessert because of it’s naturally sweetness.
Sweets were founded to feed for the god in Mesopotamia and
India. Dry fruit and honey were the first sweeteners which were used
in most of the world. After that, human started to use sugarcane to
make sugar and make it easier to use and carry along.
Baked goods have been around the world for thousands of years
and the art of bakery was developed early during the Roman Empire.
And the baked goods became more famous and started selling in Rome,
Germany and other country. Most goods that were baked by bakeries
were pies, bread, cakes and others. As time goes, bakery nowadays not
only sell baked goods but also coffee and other products. For example,
RT bakery started selling coffee and food to increase their profit and
also the amount of customer of niche market. In this generation,
bakery and pastry are separated into dessert and non-dessert shops as
more customers are willing to pay a visit to the dessert shop because
of their sweet tooth and also due to the trend.
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Brief Description of Haraju Cube
Haraju Cube, listed as the best dessert shop in Klang Valley,
gained their popularity from their unique taste of Japanese honey
toast. After Shibuya-style Japanese honey toast has generated long
queues in Tokyo, Taiwan and Thailand, Haraju Cube founders Daichi
Fukuzato and Kent Ong decided that it is high time to introduce this
Japanese treat to Malaysian. Nowadays, any Food and Beverage will
think of a cool or unique name to attract customers. Since the
founders are Japanese, they have decided to use a Japanese name.
“Haraju” came from “Harajuku” which is a location in Japan where
the young and teenagers dress in their own fashions they invent
themselves, or cosplay outfit. While honey toasts come in cube size,
hence the name “Haraju Cube”. It is located at 103 Level 1, Empire
Damansara, Damansara Perdana, Jalan PJU 8/8, 47820 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor , Malaysia. The brightly-lit café has cheerful yellow and
white walls, huge windows and minimalist furnishings. Haraju Cube
has run their business for almost a year, it is still fresh, therefore
they do not have any branches. They currently have 12 employees to
help run their business. The main product of Haraju Cube is the
Caramel Honey toast because teenagers love sweet things. Caramel
Honey toast is a huge and thick toast, laced with whipped cream,
crowned with generous scoop of ice cream. Cutting through the edge
of the toast to reveal 8 pieces cubed toast which is actually the
“filling” of the hollowed square toast. As we know that Haraju Cube
is a famous dessert shop which attracts many teenagers and
families. Their estimated customers in a day exceeds 150 customers.
During weekends, customers have to queue up to visit the shop
because the seats are quite limited. The business started back in
December, 2014. The founders, Kent and Daichi were involved in the
pastry field in Japan before they start the business. They started this
business because they have the culinary background and they want
to try their best to deliver their passion on desserts to people.
Furthermore, they also know that teenagers nowadays have an
obsession with desserts. Before expanding their brand to other
branches, Kent and Daichi would rather focus on the current shop
first.
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Brief Description of Sweet Hug House
The business that we interviewed is a dessert café located in
Kampar named Sweet Hug House. The Sweet Hug House is currently
situated at 2236, Jalan Batu Sinar, Taman Bandar Baru 31900 Kampar,
Perak. It started at 18th November 2012. This business was founded by
a pair of couple, Mr. Ng Kam Wai and his wife, Mrs. Ng. Before that, Mr.
Ng was working in the field of hotel management in overseas and
locally. In Malaysia, he worked at Genting Highland Hotel for three
years. In oversea, he worked at a six-star hotel, Star World Hotel at
Macau for roughly ten years . Mr. and Mrs. Ng decided to move back to
Kampar and operate a dessert shop because of their kids’ education
and to earn for a living.
Their shop’s signature desserts are the cheesecakes, chocolate
lava, and fondue. In order to increase their income, they also provide
main courses and beverages. Their signature dish includes honey
chicken chop and black pepper lamb chop while the signature
beverages are coffee.
Mr. Ng stated that 50% of the customers are local families, 30% of
them are students who came to Kampar for further studies at UTAR,
and 20% of them are mostly Malays and Indians. The number of
customers changes throughout the year. Mr. Ng estimated that they will
have an average of 100 customer per month if is not during festive
season. For peak seasons, the estimated number of customers are on
an average of 200 per month. Other than that, Mr. Ng hired a total of
five full-timer which one is supervisor and the rest are waitress.
To start the business, Mr. Ng used a total of RM 100,000 as
business’s capital. The business has an annual revenue of roughly
RM100, 000 per year. The business currently has no other branches.
The business will change their homemade recipes every two to
three months in order to adapt to customers’ needs and also to attract
more customers. The business future goals are to improve their
business and open one more branch at a different area.
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Comparative Analysis of the Businesses’ Competitive Traits
Haraju Cube
!
Haraju Cube is located in Empire Damansara which is the heart
of Damansara Perdana in Petaling Jaya. It is situated in a prime
location in Petaling Jaya and can be accessed easily from different
directions through many major highways. It is just minutes away from
the prestigious and affluent districts such as Taman Tun Dr Ismail,
Bandar Utama and Mutiara Damansara. Empire Damansara’s Heritage
Lane houses a variety of F&B outlets catered for both the young and
the old alike. Therefore, it encounters severe competition with many
other dessert shops.
The top 3 competitors of Haraju Cube are Cat in the Box, Metal
Box and Seven Cups. They are all located in the same building as
Haraju Cube which is Empire Damansara.
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Competitor 1: Cat in the
Box
Everything found in this place is
made from scratch, from their
Callebaut Chocolate sauce all the
way to hearty pies. Dig into their
Chicken & Potato Pie for a comfort,
hearty meal. With crust not too
thick, its savory pie has generous
fillings, which is a good replacement
for one’s lunch. Their signature is
Callebaut Mocha Brownie with Fat
Competitor 2: Metal Box
Metal Box is a place where patrons
flock faithfully to for their meals be
in breakfast, brunch or tea. Metal-
box’s baked eggs is usually the
crowd’s favorite, 2 free range eggs
with slices of chicken breast, chicken
sausages and potatoes baked
beautifully and served with 2 pieces
of sourdough bread. The whole
combination is palatable and a
suitable comfort food. One can also
dig into their Specialty French Toast,
French toast pan seared till golden
brown and served berries and a shot
of gula Melaka. This dish will
definitely end one’s meal on a SWEET
note.

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Competitor 3: Seven Cups
A crowd favourite for a cuppa of Joe
when one is in the vicinity. Dig into
their best seller, the French Butter &
Maple Syrup Waffles. Classic waffles
out of the hot iron, with a slab of
French butter on the side, drizzled
with maple syrup. The waffles were
nicely done, fragrant batter and not
too soggy nor crispy. The Lescure
French butter that came with the
waffles was just so creamy and
buttery. Order a chocolatey cup of
Iced Chocolate or Iced Latte to go
with that waffles.
Location: Jalan PJU 8/8, Damansara
Perdana

Strategies Employed by Haraju Cube to compete with Competitors
Haraju-Cube dishes out their famous Shibuya honey toasts. Each toast is baked
separately, with an outer layer of thick toast and 8 mini toast cubes hidden inside.
Since the mini toasts are added with honey and butter, do expect a sugar rush
moment. The outer layer toast is thick, whereas the mini toasts on the inside are
warm, fluffy and soft. It claims to use special ingredients and its uniqueness in
taste and texture make it stands out compared to others.
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Haraju Cube is also known of its flavoursome speciality of milk mixed with the cafe's own-made
butterscotch & caramel which only serve at RM8.90 each.
! !
Although the entire café is not spacious but it exudes a cosy and relaxing ambience for casual
gathering. The interior of the café is decorated with lots of wooden elements in light tone, coupled well
white walls and highlights of yellow for colour contrast. The decorations are minimal, with potted
plants on shelves hanging from wall. Ample of natural lights flow through the French window during
daytime. Therefore, it serves as a good place to take good shots of photography and also their worthy
desserts. This strategy has attracted many blogger to visit the store.
Sweet Hug House
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Sweet Hug House is located in Taman Bandar Baru, Kampar,
Perak. Kampar has been listed as one of the vast development towns
for these few year. These developed infrastructure provides
convenience to the local residents in Kampar. However the main
reason of the increasing number of shop lots is to provide
entertainment and convenience to the college student who stays
around. Kampar has become a bustling education hub after University
Tunku Abdul Rahman has set up. Therefore, college students became
one of their target customers.
The top 3 competitors of Sweet Hug House are Super Soya
Beancurd, Bread Espresso Dessert and JJ café. These stores are all
located at a walking distance within Taman Bandar Baru.
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Competitor 1: Super Soya
Beancurd
The Super Soya Beancurd’s beancurd is
rather smooth, full of soya smell. The
menu has a variety of toppings for the
taufufa. There are so many choices and
the variety of toppings that work well
with beancurd. The almond with raisin
topping is one of the popular menu of
Super Soya Beancurd. The almond was
crispy and blended nicely with the
beancurd.
Location: Super soya beancurd located
Competitor 2: Bread Espresso Dessert
The BED café, short for Bread, Espresso,
Dessert, is quite a cute and unusual name for
a cafe. Bread Espresso Dessert (B.E.D.)
specializes in freshly-brewed coffee;
decorated with coffee art by a self-taught
barista to lift that aesthetic element beyond
the usual cup of coffee served in conventional
cafes. For desserts, Creme Brulee and Banana
Frangipane. The Frangipane is derivative from
custard tart, usually flavoured with almonds/
pistachio. Filling may vary as the coconut
version, whereas besides the banana, the
cherry and blueberry version are also available.
Slightly above average, the banana
complemented well with the crumbly pastry which
is not too sweet. As creme brulee literally
means Burnt Cream, the coarse brown sugar at
the top surface is usually caramelized with a
torch.
Location: No 3, Medan Istana 6, Bandar Ipoh

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Competitor 3：JJ café
The café may have different
concepts within, rest assured that
JJ café brims with life and
rainbows of colours where corners
are filled with the owner’s
personal touches like teddy bears,
funky yellow piano, travel books
and souvenirs from overseas. JJ
café probably has the most unique
chairs in town where the chairs
come in velvet fabric, Dalmatian
dots and leopard prints. The
signature dessert of JJ café is
durian mille crepe, the smooth
crepes were thin and layered
delicately over one another with
rich of durian.
Location: 116F, Jalan Raja
Permaisuri Bainun, 30250 Ipoh,

Strategies Employed by Sweet Hug House to compete with Competitors
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The prices of the desserts are set as reasonable and affordable to the customers.
During festival season, Sweet Hut House changes their decoration to cope with the
trend of public. The beautiful decoration attracted a lot of customers to come
celebrate the festival.
Besides that, the unique homemade recipe enables Sweet Hug House to be
outstanding at the area. All of the ingredients and dessert are developed by the
owner, Mr Ng. The ingredients and dessert are limited and they produce them daily
in order to ensure the freshness and unique taste of the food. Also to adapt the
needs of customers, Sweet Hut House will change their menu every 2 to 3 months
to ensure that customers will come back again.
Sweet Hug House provides good quality of services to their customers. Although
the shop has enough worker to serve customers, the owners are still uphold with
their workers to serve customers together. The workers there are polite and they
treat the customers just like their family. The food are served fast and accurately
according to the customer’s needs.
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Obstacles faced by new business who wish to enter the market
A new business which wish to enter the market will normally face
intense competition. As there are many famous dessert shops in the
market, it would be a great challenge for them to survive in this
market. If they do not stand a chance to compete with others, their
business probably would not sustain for a year or even six months. In
addition, it will be difficult for the new business to earn the
customers’ loyalty because they just started to enter the market. Many
customer prefer to remain at the old shop rather than trying out new
things. Moreover, the lack of capital is another obstacle that is
normally faced by new business that enter this industry. Most of the
new business does not have enough capital to maintain their shop for
the first few month because they lack of experience in running the
business.
Nature of market
Both of the dessert shops are in a monopolistic competitive
market. There are a lot of dessert shops in the same area, which
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creates lots of competitors to against with them. The dessert shops
have weak barriers to entry. This means once entrepreneurs acquired
the technique of making dessert then the new firms are able to enter
and exit the market freely. Besides, the dessert shops have weak
pricing power, because they have no ability to charge a higher price
than the market price unreasonably. This will cause their customer to
turn to other competitors. Therefore, having a good quality food with
reasonable prices will bring back trustworthy customers.
Summary Table of the Similarities between Both Businesses
Summary Table of the Differences between Both Businesses
Sweet Hug House Similarities Haraju-Cube
Lead by owner Leader Lead by owner
Ng Kam Wai Main Founder Daichi Fukuzato
1 Number of Founder 1
0 Number of Branch 0
1 Number of Shop 1
Expand size of shop Future Business Plan Expand size of shop
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Based on our analysis, Haraju Cube is more commercially
successful. There are a few aspects to support this statement.
First, it is the location of Haraju Cube. Haraju Cube is located in
Empire Damansara. Empire Damansara is a new mixed
development which aims to satisfy both business and lifestyle
needs. Therefore, it houses with both residential area and
commercial area in one place. Besides, the location of Empire
Damansara is better than other location as it is closer to Mutiara
Damansara where one can access plenty of amenities easily and
also has a close proximity to the entry and exit point. In addition,
Sweet Hug House Differences Haraju-cube
2236 Jalan Batu
Sinar (Taman Bandar
Baru), 31900 Kampar,
Perak
Location 103 Level 1, Empire
Damansara, Damansara
Perdana, Jalan PJU 8/8,
47820 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
RM 100,000 Amount of Starting
Capital
RM 200,000
Around RM 100,000 Annual Revenue Around RM 216,000
5 Number of Employee 12
4 Number of Competitors 3
50% families, 30%
students, 20% Malay
Indian
Targeted Customers Young generation
Lack of publicity Obstacles Faced ▪ Production
preparation,
number of
customers
exceeded their
expectations
▪ Difficult to keep
the ingredients
as they have to
be fresh
Chocolate lava fondue,
Homemade Cheesecake
Special Dishes Honey Toast
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the location itself can be assessable from different other
directions through many highways. Nonetheless, this has become
one of the biggest attractions of Haraju Cube. Next is the aspect
of income, in the table above, we can see that Sweet Hug House
required RM100K for their starting capital while Haraju Cube
required approximately RM200k, however, Haraju Cube gain
approximately RM216k for their annual revenue while Sweet Hug
House only has RM100K. From this we can conclude that Sweet
Hug House did not experience any profit or loss but Haraju Cube is
gaining profit in the business. To wrap up our analysis, Haraju
Cube is more successful than Sweet Hug House.
Recommendation
Based on the analysis that we have done the research regarding
the two dessert shop, Haraju Cube and Sweet Hug House, we have
proposed a few recommendation to further improve and expand their
competiveness in the future.
One of the biggest obstacles faced by Haraju Cube is that their
product takes a long period of preparations. Therefore, they can hire
more number of workers to reduce workload and increase their
productivity. This way they can earn more profit and be able to expand
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their business in the future. Besides that, the number of customers
have exceed their expectation. The possible way for them to solve this
problem is to open another branch to separate the amount of
customers. With this, they can solve the problem of not having enough
tables for the customer and also earn more income. In the interview,
the owner of Haraju Cube also mentioned that is it very difficult for
them to keep the ingredients fresh. They focus on quality over
quantity. One of the way that could be the possible solution to solve
this problem is to expand their business. As they expand their business,
they would be able to have more customer. This way the ingredient
will be used more often and finished faster. They would be able to use
up their ingredients when they were still fresh.
For Sweet Hug House, the obstacle that they faces is the lack of
publicity. They can have more advertisement to attract more
customers from the area around them. The other obstacle that is the
number of customers they have is not stable as more of the students
will have their semester break which cause less customer that period
of time. To overcome that they should do more promotion, such as,
using online promotion code and promotion set for their dessert.
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Bibliography
Bread Espresso Dessert Café (BED) @ Ipoh (2014, February 2)
Retrieved from http://alwaystravelicious.com/2014/02/02/bread-
espresso-dessert-cafe-bed-ipoh/
JJ Lifestyle Cafe @ Jalan Kampar, Ipoh (2013,August 3) Retrieved from
http://www.j2kfm.com/jj-lifestyle-cafe-jalan-kampar-ipoh/
That Heavenly Slumber @ b.e.d. (Bread Espresso Dessert) (2012, October
6) Retrieved from http://www.j2kfm.com/bread-espresso-dessert-b-e-d-
medan-istana-ipoh/
Dessert (2016, January 6) Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Dessert
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Comparing Dessert Businesses in Different Locations

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