The Japanese Baked Cheese Tarts That You've Been Having Are Not Actually From Japan
The origin of these outlets doesn't date back to the Land of the Rising Sun.
By John Lim — 24 Oct 2016, 05:05 PM
The Japanese baked cheese tart has been all the rage here in Malaysia recently. The tart - filled with gooey molten cheese and made of crispy, buttery pastry - is the perfect afternoon snack.
How did this food trend start?
It all began with Shintaro Naganuma, the eldest son of Kinotoya confectionery president Akio Naganuma. The Hokkaido-based confectionery is famous for its blueberry tart.
At a food fair in Singapore, Naganuma ran out of boxes for the tarts and ended up selling them warm from a tray. Sales skyrocketed, with more customers queuing up to buy the wobbly-centred tarts.
Soon after, he removed the blueberries from the mix and opened Bake, the shop that started the fever for warm, half-baked cheese tarts.
Bake currently has outlets in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
For us Malaysians, we normally get our cheese tart fix from Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart and Tokyo Secret - who are considered as the first local purveyors of the tart.
But don't be mistaken - both chains are not from Japan.
Customers holding up cheese tarts from Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart.
Image via Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart's FB pageHokkaido Baked Cheese Tart is set up by Malaysian food and beverage company, Secret Recipe, that's famous for its cheesecakes
This article by The Malaysian Tatler confirms it.
The tart brand currently has 11 outlets locally and 1 outlet in Indonesia. Its first outlet was opened in June 2016 at the Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya.
Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart shares similarities to Bake and many customers have been reaching out to the latter for clarification as reported by Singaporean news portal The Strait Times
Cheese tarts from Bake (left) compared to the ones from Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart (right).
Image via The Strait TimesBake opened its Singapore outlet earlier this year at the busy IOI Orchard area. Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart followed suit and opened an outlet in October at Jurong Point.
Since then, consumers can't help but notice the resemblance between both brands, considering that Bake hails from Hokkaido and Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart has the word 'Hokkaido' in its name.
"We do receive queries on whether Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart is part of Bake and we explain that we are different brands. We believe our differentiation will be noticed... each brand will draw its own fans," said Mr Koo Gin Ngee, 52, chief executive of Bake in Singapore.
As for Tokyo Secret, the chain is from Hong Kong and currently has three outlets in Malaysia
Tokyo Secret was established in Tsim Sha Tsui, a bustling area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The chain has set up shop in 1 Utama, IPC Shopping Centre, and Sunway Pyramid.
The baked cheese tart craze is about to be taken a notch higher as Pablo, a cheese tart chain from Japan, will be opening their first outlet soon
Originated from Osaka, Pablo has been teasing on social media about the opening for months. The outlet will be located at 1 Utama Shopping Centre, signifying there'll be more branches around the Klang Valley.