Mon, Mar 31, 2003 page11

• Baker rises to meet need for good bread

  Located in Taipei's expatriate enclave of Tienmou, Wendel Baeckerei & Cafe has been providing Taipei with authentic German bread and pastries for more than four years. Last week owner and master baker Michael Wendel sat down with `Taipei Times' contributing reporter Joanna Dunne, to talk about how his bakery sets itself apart from local competition and the secrets behind his winning recipes.

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  Taipei Times: What inspired you to set up a German bakery in Taiwan?

  Michael Wendel: The idea came from my current Taiwanese business partner who had spent time in Germany and wanted to open an authentic bakery here, thinking that the Taiwanese would really love the bread. I agreed to give it a go, and what you see here is a result of that decision. That was over four years ago now.

  TT: What resistance did you receive from the local community and who are your core clients?

  

  Master baker Michael Wendel, owner of Wendel Baeckerei & Cafe, is maintaining his family's 70-year history of running a traditional German-style bakery making authentic German bread and pastries, only in Tienmou instead of back home in Heidelberg.

  PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING

  Wendel: At the beginning local residents were slightly suspicious. They didn't have any idea of what a real German bakery is, as there are a number of bakeries around Taipei that give themselves the title German-style when in fact they are nothing of the sort. People who had been to these pseudo-German places would sometimes even tell me that my bread was not proper German bread!

  But it was just a case of educating people about what a German bakery is really about -- natural, healthy, additive-free bread. But in general the neighborhood has been very supportive, as people are willing to come in and give new things a try and then introduce their friends to us.

  I see us very much as a stronghold of German culture for the German community in Taiwan. Since we first opened, we have had a gathering here on the first Thursday of each month for German speakers. We sometimes have as many as 70 people turn up. We also have German card games every Wednesday nights here. I like to think that it is a mutually beneficial relationship -- I need the community and the community also needs me.

  TT: Your family has a 70-year history in the bakery business, what advantages does this give you over the competition?

  Wendel: My grandfather opened the family's first bakery in 1932 in Heidelberg. The business was then handed down through the family. But when it came to my turn to take over the reins, I decided that I wanted to keep the family tradition going, but in Taiwan rather than in Germany. Because of this history, I have the advantage of knowing a lot of traditional bread-making techniques and recipes that have been handed down over the generations. And some things can really only be done in this sort of traditional way.

  Another advantage that my family background gives me is my training. In Germany, if you want to open a bakery you have to become a master baker. This involves an eight-year practical training period and a year in which you learn about the health and nutrition involved in bread-making. I am the only master baker in Taiwan. This means that I have a definite advantage over the local competition. Most importantly I know how to make good Western- quality bread, which is something that many local bakeries don't know.

  TT: Work in in-flight catering initially brought you to Taiwan. What was it like working in that sector and what ultimately made you decide to become an entrepreneur?

  Wendel: China Airlines and Cathay Pacific were opening a new in-flight kitchen in Taiwan back in 1996. They were looking for a German master-baker pastry chef to run the kitchen and to try and train local staff. The in-flight kitchen serves international clients, so therefore needed international-standard bread. And many local stores simply can't meet this standard.

  Having previously worked on a cruise ship, I was used to working with many different nationalities, but it was quite different working in an Asian culture. I still remember wanting to go home after my second day on the job. But it was just a question of getting used to it.

  When my contract ran out I saw my chance to put my experience and training as a master baker to good use, and my initial plan to stay six months has turned into six years and counting.

  TT: What kind of government red tape did you run up against?

  Wendel: For this kind of business there is no red tape. The government is very happy to have people here to provide employment and training for locals. At the beginning, finding suitable staff was more of a problem.

  TT: How do you keep staff from learning the tricks of the trade from you and then leaving to set up their own venture?

  Wendel: I don't have a high staff turnover in my kitchen. They realize that they are doing a different sort of work and that we treat them differently compared with other employers, for example they have unusually good benefits. I think they are quite happy here.

  Although there is nothing to stop them from leaving to start their own bakery, what they will have learned from me in such a short space of time is only a fraction of the knowledge they would need to be able to compete with my bakery.

  I grew up in a bakery and have effectively studied baking since I was a boy. And some skills you can't just pick up in two or three years. It's easy to mix a dough, but you need to learn how to balance all the possible variations in ingredients, like changes in the water or flour for example. Just like I had to adapt my baking and recipes to Taiwan's humid climate.

  While my staff are able to handle the baking if I am not here and my head chef now has a feeling for when the dough is right, they still need my supervision and I still do the majority of the baking myself. So I don't really worry about staff running off with trade secrets of any commercial value to themselves.

  TT: What are your big money-making products and do you supply any other customers besides the retail market?

  Wendel: Apart from German bread, we also have a range of international bread, ranging from Russian to French. This is mainly designed to cater to the wide range of nationalities that live in Taipei. But German bread is by far our most popular product with customers. For example, the House bread, sourdough bread and "full-corn" [whole-grain] bread all sell particularly well.

  Our flour is not bleached like the local variety which makes our products far more nutritious. As this flour is imported from Germany, the costs of production are increased quite a bit. But I think that as long as we provide a top quality product, our customers are willing to pay that little bit extra. And when you compare our prices with other imported German products sold on the market here, I think that it is actually quite reasonable.

  Our seasonal products also always sell very well. For example each Christmas we have about 20 different types of German Christmas specialities. Christmas is peak season for us as all the expats come in to stock up on seasonal goodies that they can't get hold of anywhere else. This Easter we are planning to have about eight different products, including pastry lambs and chocolate bunnies.

  We do sell our bread to a number of coffee houses and restaurants, and I would like to see this side of the company increase a little in the future. But my main focus will remain with my in-shop customers. From a personal point of view, there is nothing more satisfying then seeing customers enjoying our bread firsthand.

  TT: Why is it that for the Western palate most Taiwanese bakery items don't taste authentic -- are key ingredients missing?

  Wendel: The techniques they use for baking are fundamentally very different. I wouldn't say that the Taiwanese make bad bread, it's just very different to what we are used to in the West. For example, they often use ready-made mix where you just add water and yeast. I use unprocessed freshly ground flour and pure grains imported from Germany and we mix it all ourselves to give it our own unique flavor. This means that not only does our bread taste very different and more authentic, but it is also much healthier.

  TT: What percentage of your clientele is from abroad and how do you keep your core customers coming back?

  Wendel: Actually only 35 percent of my clientele are now foreigners. When the bakery first opened foreigners made up about 80 percent, but now more and more Taiwanese are coming in. I think that a lot of my Taiwanese customers are initially curious about our products and also about me specifically as a "laowai" (老外, foreigner). So they come in to find out what is going on.

  The Taiwanese are also increasingly paying more attention to a healthy diet. So our bread is ideal for this new healthy living, as we only use natural ingredients, no additives, sugar or fat compared with Taiwanese bread with can have up to 30 percent fat and sugar. Our customers keep coming back because they know we consistently provide a good product.

  TT: Have you ever thought about expanding beyond your Tienmou store?

  Wendel: We initially chose Tienmou because of the high concentration of foreigners and also the village atmosphere here. The people here are also more outgoing and willing to try new things than is true of other areas of Taipei.

  But one of the reasons that I have not gone back to Germany yet is because I still see potential for growth in this market. I would like to open another branch in downtown Taipei, but I'm still looking for the right location.

  But my ultimate goal is to keep this traditional German-style bakery true to its roots. And you can only really do that on a small scale, when you have everything under control.I don't want to open a big franchise because it wouldn't be possible to maintain the same quality of product. Now everything is hand-made and that's how I want to keep it.
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