Tastemakers: Founders of Taiwanese chain Abundance share love of good food and deep friendship

SINGAPORE – The two founders of Abundance, a popular Taiwanese food and craft beer chain, could not be more different.

Reserved and introverted, Mr Jaz Yew, 43, who is from a small Malaysian town called Slim River in Perak, dropped out in the first year of secondary school to work full time. He came to Singapore at age 15 and worked his way up, from kitchen assistant at a seafood restaurant to head of kitchen operations at Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung.

Mr Tan Yuan Xin, 35, an extrovert and a Singaporean, graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Business degree. He worked for his father, a structural steel contractor in the construction industry, for over a year before mustering the courage to tell his dad he wanted a corporate job elsewhere. He later joined the BreadTalk Group as a senior brand executive.

It was there that the two became acquainted in 2016 and bonded over their love of good food.

Meeting often to try out new eateries and cocktail bars, they would analyse the operations, food and drinks at the latest hot spots.

Mr Tan says: “It was over these meet-ups that it came up in conversation. What if we were to set up a business together, as our roles and skills complemented each other?”

Despite their differences in personality and background, it was a match made in heaven.

From launching their first hole-in-the-wall 20-seater HDB void deck eatery in Lengkok Bahru in April 2021, the duo recently opened their third and largest outlet at Century Square in Tampines.

The 70-seater is their first outlet in a mall and, at the cost of $500,000, their biggest investment to date. Mr Tan reckons it will take a year to break even.

Some of their most popular items are Gua Bao ($7.90++) and Beef Noodle Soup ($16.90++). They pair well with the eatery’s range of six craft beers from Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The duo have come a long way since their 2019 business plan of running a fish head beehoon eatery in Johor Bahru, which Covid-19 abruptly put a halt to. Over the years, their friendship has also grown stronger, further cemented when Mr Tan’s father died in March 2020.

Mr Yew, who became a Singapore permanent resident in 2017 and was in Kuala Lumpur training at a fish head beehoon eatery at the time, dropped everything and rushed to Singapore to attend the wake.

Mr Tan says: “I was very touched. I didn’t expect him to take time out and make a trip to Singapore. He really cared and was really supportive. I realised there and then that he is a true friend.”

In September 2020, Mr Tan quit his job to venture out on his own. He called Mr Yew, then in Perak as his training had been interrupted by the pandemic, and asked him to return to Singapore.

By then, they had shelved their fish head beehoon plans in favour of serving authentic Taiwanese fare, then less readily available in Singapore.

“We wanted to present Taiwanese fare beyond lu rou fan and oyster mee sua, and give diners more variety without travelling to Taiwan, since we could not travel at that time,” recalls Mr Yew.

Upon his return to Singapore, he spent his two weeks in quarantine in a hotel brainstorming recipes and planning the menu.

Inspired by the food they had tasted at Ningxia Night Market and Luodong Night Market in Taiwan, the two decided to make Taiwanese gua bao – a braised pork belly dish with condiments such as crushed peanuts and pickled mustard greens – their signature item.

They launched Abundance as a home-based business in October 2020, to overwhelming response.

When the production could no longer keep up with demand, they closed in December that year to scout for a location for a bricks-and-mortar shop.

They looked at nearly 30 venues before finding a suitable spot at the foot of an HDB block in Lengkok Bahru in March 2021, and opened the following month.

Mr Yew says: “Many residents told us not to rent it because 10 businesses had failed there before us. But it is near the MRT station and there is a carpark nearby. We were confident in our food.”

The two partners put up $70,000 to start their first outlet and pulled long hours, not taking any time off for the first nine months.

They did not pay themselves for the first two months either. By month six, their hard work had paid off and they broke even.

In December 2022, the two partners invested $150,000 to open their second outlet in Jalan Besar, a 1,200 sq ft shophouse space which can seat 44 diners.

And when the opportunity came up to take over a space at Century Square previously occupied by steakhouse MediumRare By Saveur, they took it. The restaurant opened on Aug 23, and it has a more extensive menu with outlet-exclusive items such as century egg noodles.

The ambitious duo hope to open another outlet in Punggol, as well as expand their original Lengkok Bahru eatery to a larger space in Redhill. They are also looking at setting up a central kitchen. Their goal is to hit a total of five Abundance outlets, then start a new F&B brand. 

While Mr Yew looks after kitchen operations, Mr Tan takes care of the front of house, training the service crew and marketing their brand.

In the beginning, many people warned Mr Yew, who roped in his wife to handle the accounts for Abundance in 2023, about going into business with a friend. 

He says: “Communication is very important. We learnt to compromise. Yuan Xin is more tolerant of me than my wife. He is sanguine, while I am a workaholic and too serious at work. I am picky about details.”

He acknowledges that most business partners may not agree with using premium ingredients to keep quality high. 

Mr Tan, who is engaged and getting married in November, says: “Our ingredient costs are high and some dishes require intensive labour. Initially, I wondered if our business model is sustainable, but the results speak for themselves. Customers do appreciate our food quality.”

He adds: “Business tension does affect the friendship at times. We have our share of disagreements, but we talk things through and trash things out. At the end of the day, we have a lot of respect for each other.”