Guia Bakery using Jiangmen as base for slice of China market

By
Joanne Kuai

With eleven bakeries in Macau, Padaria da Guia has established its reputation with local residents. To further expand the business, the company has built a new factory in Jiangmen City in neighbouring Guangdong Province. The brand new ‘Portuguese-style Gift’ is targeted at the Mainland market.
The president of parent bakery company Tong Mong Ieong Enterprises Ltd., Ian Soi Kun, said the group has various businesses, including real estate, hotels, restaurants, tourism, gift shop and bakeries.
The Padaria da Guia bakery opened its first shop in Nape, Macau in October, 2005. Fabrica de Bolos Guia, which produces the products, was built in 2009. As the factory in Macau could no longer cope with demand it sought opportunities across the border.
The regional co-operation is a key element in the group’s expansion.
With the support of the Jiangmen authorities, the group purchased land and established a new factory in the city about one hour’s drive away from the SAR. Guia (jiangmen) Bakery Food Co. Ltd. was born. The foundations of the factory were laid in October 2013, with the first phase of the project completed in August 2014. A showroom that displays all the products became functional in March 2015.
Currently, the factory in Jiangmen occupies some 48 square kilometres, with another 18.6 square kilometres reserved as a logistics base. The investment to date amounts to 130 million yuan.
Macau brand While the group’s Padaria da Guia bakeries are located around Macau, and sell bread, cakes, and seasonal food that mainly target local residents, a new brand called ‘Padaria da Guia – Portuguese-style Gift’ has been introduced in Mainland China, targeting Chinese consumers across the border.
The president of the group, Ian Soi Kun, told reporters on a media trip to the factory in Jiangmen City over the weekend that the logo of the Guia Lighthouse – a landmark in Macau – is representative of Macau’s food culture.
Macau’s bakeries and gift shops are well-known by Mainland Chinese. The specialties, such as almond cake, and egg rolls, are among the must-buy items when tourists travel to the SAR.
Playing to this advantage, the ‘Portuguese-style Gift’ aims to use Macau’s unique food culture from the Jiangmeng base to develop the bakery and gifts businesses all over the country. Some 8 shops have been opened in Jiangmen City already. The group also plans aims to ‘export’ Macau’s food culture to more locations in China by opening more franchises.