Bubblewrap Waffle’s Instagram-friendly treats became a viral sensation over the summer – so much so that the fledgling operator struggled to cope with the queues. Co-founder Sunny Wu discusses putting a twist on the Hong Kong street snack, and the process of building a sustainable business.
With a background in business and marketing, Sunny Wu was well placed to see the visual appeal of bubble waffles.
While the traditional Hong Kong snack was fairly straightforward, usually served plain in a brown paper bag, Bubblewrap reimagined it with flashes of colour and razzmatazz.
A range of toppings were introduced, which customers are able to curate, with familiar elements like Italian gelato introduced to bridge the gap for consumers.
While the product was not lacking in visual appeal, its early nomadic existence in street food markets left it struggling to find loyalty and a sense of place, and so Wu and business partner Tony Fang set about finding a permanent home.
The first site, which opened on Wardour Street in March, was nicely located near Chinatown – but the operators were taken aback by demand.
“It was quite a gamble for us to take the site in Wardour Street”, Wu said. “It’s a prime location and not cheap. Luckily the landlord liked the concept as it’s hard for as start-up to get a site like that.
“It was crazy during the summer, everyone wanted a photo of the waffle in front of the Chinese gates.
“We found it quite overwhelming in fact. We couldn’t serve customers fast enough, and we had complaints about that.
“Now its winter, we can have more focus internally on operations, staff, and the development of the company. We are hoping it will be more efficient for this coming summer.”
Wu believes there is lots of potential to develop Chinese cuisine in the UK, in the same way that South East Asian cuisine has become very popular.
“Desert is a unique way to enter the market, as sweet things are more dominant in the west, although it’s becoming more popular from an oriental point of view.”
Aware that they would not be the only operator to bring bubble waffles to the UK, Wu said Bubblewrap looked to differentiate itself with high quality ingredients and individual presentation from an early stage.
“We want to present it in an arty way, and we have certain ways of presenting which is what makes us different.
“After we opened we were quite sure there would be a lot of people doing the same thing. We want people to think when they see it, oh this is from Bubblewrap.”
After establishing the first site, Wu is looking for a second larger site, with more dine-in space.
But she said the main focus would be on refining the product, production and staff training, rather than rapid expansion,
“Bubblewrap’s focus will always be on our product and staff, it’s out unique selling point. Our staff are the people that create the waffles, and it requires a lot of skills to make sure it’s correct.
“We are aiming to grow, but we need to do it at the right pace. We want to focus on the product at the moment.”
She said they could look at investment, but for now growth will be organic.
Franchising could be an option, but it would have to be very carefully vetted to ensure quality.
