Starting Off With Homemade Bun, Now Rotiboy Boasts More Than 40 Outlets In Seven Countries

By AMIRUL MUTTAQIEN MEKETAR KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- It all started with selling his homemade family ‘pau’ (buns) in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, and now Hiro Tan, 54, has developed his Rotiboy product into a well-known brand both locally and abroad. In 1998, Tan, together with his elder sister , who wanted to be known only as L.H Tan, 57, opened a bakery called Rotiboy Bakeshoppe in Bukit Mertajam and to date, it has 40 branches in the country, as well outlets in Indonesia, South Korea, China, Thailand, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. After two decades in operations, Rotiboy, the name that was inspired by his naughty nephew, the company would be adding another 40 new branches throughout the country next year, Tan told Bernama after appearing as a guest on the Nine11 programme on Bernama News Channel here Tuesday. “We are also planning to open branches in Japan as well as in New York in the future,” he added. He said starting with only two types of buns, namely, the butter-filled bun using a Mexican recipe and coffee-flavoured topping buns, now Rotiboy produced 100,000 different types of bread and pastries daily. For Tan who holds a bachelor degree in economics from Universiti Malaya, his experience in selling homemade family buns during his schooling years as well as at the university to finance his studies, has helped him in his business Tuesday. --BERNAMA