PETALING JAYA: Baking supplies retailer Bake With Yen (BWY) plans to open five to 10 “superstores” this year, as it refines the brand by opening premium outlets to provide a better shopping experience and to cater to the needs of customers.
Currently, BWY has two superstores, in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) and Taman Megah, as well as 93 stores nationwide, giving it a presence in almost all states.
BWY’s new group CEO Alexandre Rosso (pix) told SunBiz that the superstores are designed around the concept of a baking supermarket, and feature larger spaces, wider aisles, higher shelves that can display more items as well as extensive chiller space.
They carry more than 3,000 items or stock-keeping units, compared with 2,000 in standard stores. The stores also offer a bigger variety of products available for bulk purchases for full-time bakers and food businesses.
Rosso said customers are happy with the superstore model.
“We are customer-centric, and the customers said they want to shop in a better environment, so we try our best to deliver what the customers need,” he said.
Despite the plan to open more superstores, the CEO said, BWY will still retain standard stores to meet the needs of residential consumers.
Rosso said it anticipates customers will become much savvier when purchasing products and will turn to brands and stores that deliver more value and help them stretch their ringgit.
In terms of sales, BWY has seen an average 20% year-on-year growth driven by higher demand and penetration of new segments.
“We now see growth normalising as people return to work; however it is still being sustained by demand from ‘pandemic-born’ bakers,” he said.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the retailer had thrived because people stayed home and baked to occupy their time, lower expenses or supplement their income.
BWY fully owns and operates its network of stores with 1,000 employees across the full range of operations.
“We supply, distribute and, retail all the baking ingredients,” Rosso remarked.
BWY recently launched the “BWY Everyday Low Price” campaign.
The CEO said it tries to optimise costs by improving efficiency as well as securing the prices of in-house brands to keep the prices low.
“So this is something that we are working on to keep the same price, but maybe only with a little change due to the global shortage issues.
“We also anticipate a growth in the purchase of in-house and local brands. We can already see this happening now – our signature range of 50+ BWY premixes is doing well. For example, our in-house brand Ausicows is the lowest ANZ priced butter in the market at RM7.90 per 250g pack; our customers know and appreciate that,” he added.
BWY was established in 1987 by Madam Yen with its first outlet in TTDl, and for many years she ran the business only with the support of the family. In 2017, Creador had invested in BWY, of which at the time had 15 outlets.
With the help received from the private equity firm, BWY has since grown into the largest baking supplies retailer in Malaysia.
