Wu Pao-chun (吳寶春), the baker who won the title of Bakery Master in the bread category at this year’s Bakery World Cup in Paris, opened his own shop in Kaohsiung yesterday.
Wu, who spent nearly a decade as an apprentice baker and another 10-odd years as a pastry chef in Taipei, opened the bakery to a long line of bread lovers.
“I apologize that everyone has had to wait so long,” the happy 39-year-old said.
During the bakery’s soft opening at the end of last month, it had about 1,000 customers a day, although some latecomers went home empty-handed despite the efforts of 20 bakers working around the clock.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who can see the lines of people waiting to buy Wu’s bread, baguettes and sandwich loaves from her Kaohsiung City Hall office window, said Wu has become the pride of Taiwan.
“The Wu Pao-chun bakery has become Kaohsiung’s latest attraction,” Chen said.
Wu worked his way to the top of his profession through sheer hard work, overcoming his limited education and relatively poor upbringing, to develop his own successful brand name, the mayor said.
When Wu was 12, his father died, leaving his wife to bring up their family on her own. The Pingtung County native went to work after graduating from junior high-school so he could help with the family finances.
“I learned a lot from my mother,” Wu told a press conference on March 13. “She was illiterate, and didn’t have many dreams. Her only wish was that all her children could grow up and achieve something.”
He defeated 23 rivals from 17 countries to win the bread baking competition in March.
Wu told customers that he already had plans to expand the shop. He said he has invited Chang Chin-fu (張金福), who first taught Wu how to make bread, and the Japanese baker who helped Wu hone his skills when he went to Japan to learn the trade, to make the starter dough for the shop.
Wu took up the offer of a rent-free, three-year lease on the 200 ping (660m2) shop that Chen Wu-tsung (陳武聰), chairman of the Real Estate Development Association of Kaohsiung, extended after Wu returned home from Paris.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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