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JUMPSTART
JUMPSTART
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A Gluten-free Bakery & Indoor Playground
INTERVIEW WITH
CHOICE COOPERATIVE
TELL US ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS
Choice Cooperative Cafe & Bakery started out with a dream to be Hong
Kong’s first Healthy Gluten-Free Bakery. We work closely with health
professionals to make sure our range is nutrient dense and more
importantly, ‘healthy, nutritious & delish’! Our venue is home to Hong
Kong’s first large indoor playground, to promote healthy play whilst also
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO LAUNCH
CHOICE COOPERATIVE?
TELL US ABOUT THE INDOOR
PLAYGROUND
We launched late 2013, and my
inspiration came from not having
enough healthy choices in Hong Kong.
I found that a lot of the gluten -free
selections weren’t in fact healthy or
good for you, so I became intrigued
as to how I could launch this within
Hong Kong.
The kids area is really important,
because as parents ourselves we were
frustrated at not having a comfortable
place to eat good healthy food whilst
the children could move about,
without any other diners getting
fed up that the kids were loud, or
really just being kids. We wanted to
offer a place where it was perfectly
acceptable to just let kids be … kids!
The important thing was to mix the
healthy foods with healthy play.
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO SET UP
YOUR BUSINESS?
It took about two and half years of
research along with development.
The process of understanding
licensing and business registrations
within the food and beverage industry
proved to be a lot of hard work. In
hindsight we now know what we
would do differently, in order to be
more efficient.
Food Entrepreneurs of HK
WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT YOUR
BUSINESS?
WHERE DO YOU SOURCE YOUR INGREDIENTS FROM?
WHO ARE YOUR GO-TO BUSINESS MENTORS IN HK?
I get most of my ingredients from overseas as
HK doesn’t have their own gluten free flour mills
yet. However, wherever we can, we support local
businesses, especially those with the same vision as
Choice!
relaxing with the family.
HOW MANY EMPLOYEES DO YOU HAVE?
I love: Peggy Chan from Grassroots Pantry & Prune;
Chef Priscilla Soligo from Rawthentic and Chef Cali
Goh from Anything But Salads; LantauMama and
Louise Kane Buickley; these ladies inspire me and
are always first to jump in and help with their great
guidance. Also my business partner, who is Jeff
Follick from Catering Depot!
We currently have 11 employees.
WHO DOES YOUR MARKETING?
WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES?
In my previous life, as I like to call it, I worked in
PR and Marketing, so I tend to do all in-house
marketing and PR! As for design, I used ‘The Little
Flying Studio’ to help create our logo and on an
ongoing basis I work with Lisa Kate Ackerman from
Isibini Design.
Getting through a quiet month, when you have to
meet MOQs that suppliers have; it’s tough, but we are
finding ways to get creative!
7/F BT Centre, 23 Wong
Chuk Hang Road
Aberdeen, Hong Kong
theonlychoicehk.com
The fact that our customers, whether
wholesale or at the café, are coming
back and thanking us for what we
have created. I always love getting
back into the test kitchen and
continuing to create amazing healthy,
nutritious and delish recipes that
provide real nourishment!
Food Entrepreneurs of HK