Tastemakers: Burnt Cones’ co-founder Miles Thng builds gelato brand on bittersweet cones

SINGAPORE – When Burnt Cones opened in Sunset Way in December 2020, co-founder Miles Thng, 34, was taking a gamble during one of the most uncertain times.

The food and beverage (F&B) industry was still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic. His wife was expecting their first child and he had quit his corporate job to pursue a dessert concept with a former classmate.

The decision paid off. Burnt Cones has since grown into a six-outlet chain known for its gelato served in housemade cones and waffles. A seventh outlet is slated to open by year’s end and the brand is testing overseas markets with pop-ups in Melbourne.

Mr Thng, who graduated from The University of Manchester in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management, had earlier ventured into the F&B scene with vegan cafe and bar Hrvst in 2017 and vegan fast-food pop-up Hello Baby in Chinatown Food Street in 2018.

He sold the former, losing $50,000 in the process, and closed the latter kiosk by April 2019. But the experience gave him perspective.

“I was demoralised, but I learnt we had to offer something that more people could identify with, something with wider appeal,” he says.

His stint at OUE Downtown Gallery with Hrvst also taught him that prime Central Business District space came with high rental and overheads.

“When setting up Burnt Cones, my partner and I took a conservative approach and went for the HDB heartland. But Sunset Way is unique as it has private residential estates in the vicinity, so it was a good mix of demographics.”

In January 2017, Mr Thng reconnected with his primary school classmate from Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), Mr Xavier Chng, 34, at the latter’s wedding. Mr Chng had started his own team-building company and a private-dining business called Sunday Roast.

The two discussed the possibility of starting a business together, but it would take three years before they each put in $50,000 of their savings to open Burnt Cones’ first outlet.

The 450 sq ft unit in Sunset Way had been vacated by a tuition centre. They decided to take it and opened a late-night dessert place in a part of Singapore with few such options.

At that time, Mr Chng was running a Western food stall at a nearby coffee shop, while Mr Thng was working as a senior business development executive at an F&B group. Mr Thng quit in June 2020 and, within a month, they put down the deposit to rent the unit.

Mr Thng chuckles as he says: “We signed the lease without having any knowledge of making gelato which we had decided to sell.”

The duo spent the next three months hitting about 30 gelato shops, sometimes three to four a day. The tastings soon turned from fun to a chore.

“It put the jelak in jelakto,” says Mr Chng, punning on the word “jelak”, which means cloying in Malay. Both gained 3kg.

By October, they began shedding the weight from the physical labour of carrying out do-it-yourself works to renovate the unit. Apart from hiring a contractor for electrical and plumbing work and a carpenter for cabinets, they plastered and painted walls, built partitions and carted chairs from home to furnish the dining area.

Just before they started renovation, Mr Thng and his wife found out that she was expecting.

“It was a happy moment, but the pressure became real. It became motivation that our business venture had to work,” he says.

Mr Thng’s wife, Ms Tan Huizhen, 34, was running a home-based bakery at that time and had experimented with making gelato. She gave him suggestions on what equipment to buy, such as a batch freezer.

A burnt cone during recipe testing provided the brand’s name and signature product. The burnt cone has a bittersweet flavour that complements the sweetness of gelato. Burnt Cones has only one type of housemade cone, which is baked longer than usual until it is well browned, but not actually burnt. The waffles are also cooked until the edges are crispy.

The store opened in December 2020 with 12 flavours, half made in-house.

One enduring signature is Ube Gelato With Burnt Cone ($6), inspired by a Filipino dessert Mr Thng first tasted at Lucky Plaza in 2016. Another perennial favourite is the French Buttermilk Waffle with 85% Dark Chocolate Gelato and Bronte Pistacchio Gelato ($19).

As demand grew, the founders used their SkillsFuture credits and enrolled in a Carpigiani Gelato University course in early 2021. The week-long training – conducted at the Italian school’s partner institution At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy in Singapore – sharpened their techniques, from balancing sugars to reducing crystallisation, and gave them the know-how to produce smoother gelato in larger volumes.

A recent gelato flavour to commemorate SG60 is Gem Biscuit Gelato With Burnt Cone ($7), available until the end of September.

Burnt Cones, which had coffee on its menu from the start, began roasting its own coffee beans in 2023 to control quality and flavour, opting for a light, acidic roast that complements nutty gelato flavours.

Growing the chain

The first outlet quickly drew queues, especially after 10pm, as there were not many late-night options in the vicinity. By mid-2021, the Sunset Way shop had broken even, well ahead of projections.

Expansion followed. A second outlet at NEWest Mall opened in July 2021, then two more at the National University of Singapore: MD11 in July 2023 – the largest outlet to date, which can seat up to 80 persons – and University Hall in April 2024.

United Square came next in June 2024, followed by a 55-seat outlet at One-North a year later.

The NUS University Hall outlet now doubles as Burnt Cones’ production hub, supplying gelato to other branches. Each outlet offers between 12 and 14 flavours. Together, they employ 32 full-timers and about 50 part-timers.

For the first three years, both partners drew just $1,400 a month, relying on part-timers while doing most of the work themselves. They endured 7am-to-midnight shifts, carried heavy gelato tubs of 5kg each, fetched their own supplies and even counted cash takings at 3am.

“Our wives became work widows,” says Mr Thng.

While the initial goal was a single outlet, the post-pandemic downturn pushed them to expand. Opening more shops became both a necessity for generating revenue and a way to achieve economies of scale.

There were also cashflow crunches. In 2023, they owed suppliers up to $20,000. For the NUS MD11 outlet, they took a bank loan to cover expansion costs.

By mid-2024, after opening at United Square, the founders stepped back from daily shifts and deliveries to focus on strategy. They invested in operations, including a new company van.

Every Dec 1, Burnt Cones marks its anniversary by selling $1 scoops, giving away 10,000 in 2024. The gesture costs about $50,000 in revenue, but both partners say it is a way of thanking the community that has supported the brand since day one.

Family plays a central role in Mr Thng’s decisions. The One-North outlet is located next to Mulberry Learning @ Fusionopolis, a pre-school which both his daughters, aged two and four, attend.

He lives in the west side of Singapore with his parents, wife – now a real estate agent – and their daughters. His parents, both 71, are retired.

“Family is extremely important to both Xavier and me. Even the spots we choose to open at are influenced by our family life,” he says.

For now, both partners still work between nine and 15 hours daily, visiting up to three outlets as well as focusing on partnerships and collaborations.

Future plans

A seventh outlet is slated to open at a central location in December. The plan is to open up to 10 outlets eventually. Mr Chng, together with operations manager Luke Lim, 34, has also developed an in-house app to handle payroll, rostering and inventory, with plans to license it to other F&B operators.

Both partners are also testing the waters in Melbourne through pop-ups with a hospitality group there.

“The Australian market is highly competitive, with many excellent gelato spots already established. However, we believe our Singaporean flair will set us apart,” says Mr Thng.

He admits he no longer enjoys gelato the way he once did, after months of eating leftover stock during the early days. But watching customers enjoy it keeps him going.

“I love how selling gelato is being part of the happy moments in the lives of our customers. We are not just selling gelato. We are selling the experience of taking a break in the middle of a busy day and rewarding yourself.”

• Tastemakers is a personality profile series on food and beverage vendors who are creating a stir.