Post-Michelin star life has had 51-year-old Chan Hon Meng pretty beat. Since his stall — Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle — scored a star in the inaugural Singapore Michelin Guide, business has been booming threefold, with about 160 chickens sold daily.
With old age and uncertainty over how long he can run the stall at Chinatown Food Complex, Chan feels that it’s the right time to consider selling his recipe. Already, he’s received five offers by companies interested in buying his recipe and expanding the business into a worldwide chain, Shin Min Daily News reported.
Hong Kong dim sum restaurant chain Tim Ho Wan is one of the interested buyers, while another is in the hotel industry.
Even before his Michelin star, there were many who approached him but failed to draw his interest, as they weren’t in the food industry. Chan has since set three criteria for those keen to partner with him — a guaranteed $2 million fee for his recipe and expertise; the resource to expand the brand worldwide; and the assurance that the taste of his soya sauce chicken would be standardised across all outlets.
“It has always been a dream to expand my business overseas and pass it to the next generation,” he says, and he’s making sure that it’ll be done right.
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