Family business reinvents traditional wheel cakes｜Taiwan News

Today we take you to meet a red bean wheel cake brand founded in 1999. The store’s second generation Chen Li-yu is now running the store, thinking of new ways to reinvent the brand. They recently unveiled a new product—a frozen treat that is a mix between a souffle and a dorayaki. FTV reporter Stephany Yang spoke to the family to learn more about the family business and the transitions they are making.

A worker carefully fills each wheel cake with different flavors such as matcha, red bean, and chocolate, as well as mochi. The only liquid in the batter is milk. Not a drip of water is added to give the treats a cakey texture. This is a Taiwanese wheel cake store that has been operating since 1999. The unique taste of the red bean wheel cakes helped shop founder Chen Wen-fa pay back tens of millions of dollars of debt.

Chen Wen-fa
Founder
I was originally in the motorcycle parts business. Later, due to a failed investment, I lost a lot of money. So I decided to improve traditional snacks from scratch. At that time, I saw that all the places that sold red bean wheel cakes were stalls on the side of the road. They were not hygienic and the ingredients weren’t stored in ideal conditions. That’s why I started by improving red bean wheel cakes. I had to start from scratch. So I found factory to work with to provide me with ready-made stuffing to make the cakes. Many people helped me along the way. My first target demographic was middle-class office workers. The bag is breathable and doesn’t get wet, so buyers can take the cakes to eat elsewhere. Their taste also goes beyond traditional red bean cakes. We developed new flavors.

Yang Yu-i
Co-founder
After enduring all these hardships in our lives, our philosophy now is to use the best ingredients to make the best products. That way our loyal customers will try out our newest products. That is our business philosophy.

Now, the family business is has been mostly passed down to their daughter Chen Li-yu, formerly a laboratory scientist at a hospital. As an only child, she couldn’t bear to see her parents work so hard, so she decided to help out with the business and think of new innovative products and flavors that younger people would love.

Chen Li-yu
Manager
I used to be a med lab scientist. But then, during the pandemic, business declined. My parents had worked so very hard, and my dad had been sick for three years by then. So I wanted to come back to help out and take us on a new path. Besides cooking the pastries, I tried to come up with ways to reinvent wheel cakes. Over the past two years, all we thought about was how to make a breakthrough.

Their new product is a mix between a souffle and a dorayaki. It comes in a variety of flavors such as matcha red bean, vanilla cream, peach, and rum cheese. They also added a twist to the product by filling wheel cakes with Hokkaido Yotsuba and serving them frozen.

Chen Li-yu
Manager
It’s not like a dorayaki or a souffle, it’s like a combination of the two. Many people like the filling of our original red bean cakes, so the matcha red bean, rum cheese, and vanilla cream flavor are all made from the fillings of our red bean cakes. Red bean cakes are usually served hot. I wanted to turn it into a cold treat and improve the crust. It’s still soft when frozen, like a souffle. The filling is Hokkaido Yotsuba whipped cream, which makes it taste great. If you eat it frozen, it’s kind of like ice cream. If you leave it in the fridge, it becomes more like a mousse.

Yang Yu-i
Co-founder
We’ve operated our brand for so many years now, and we’ve got recognition from our consumers. This year we have launched new products that people can buy to gift or to take home as souvenirs. Before, our wheel cakes were all served hot, but now we have frozen ones that can be delivered to people’s homes. The research and development process was actually very hard. We tested everything for more than a year to try to get the best taste. They are all made with the very best ingredients.

The family has worked together to allow the store to thrive in the fiercely competitive business district for more than 20 years. In the future, the family hopes to create more innovative products and open a branch serving afternoon tea with their desserts and drinks.

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