Ex-Police Officer & Corp Comms Exec Sell Well-Priced Bagels Stuffed With Korean Fried Chicken & Butter Chicken

How a corporate comms guy began selling bagels

Three years ago, Hemant came up with the idea to sell bagels with some Asian fillings like Korean fried chicken and Indian-inspired butter chicken. At the time, he had just graduated from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) with a degree in communications, and had hardly any experience in baking. He worked solely on the bagel biz for six months before getting a job in corporate communications at a non-profit organisation. He then sold bagels in his free time.

Learned how to make bagels from YouTube and Reddit

In true Gen-Z fashion, Hemant turned to the internet to learn how to bake bagels. “[I learned] from YouTube, articles, Reddit, everything lah,” he laughs. He adds: “It took a bit of craziness, to be honest. The process of making bagels was something I never knew about, so it was challenging at the start ’cos you’re learning everything from scratch. Certain things, especially baking, is a science, not an art - which makes it a lot harder to grasp.”  

Despite only being able to produce such a low volume of bagels as a home-based biz, Hemant felt confident enough to quit his corporate job after just two years, and focus on expanding The Bagel Bunch. He explains: “I think it was a combination of positive feedback from customers as well as realising that there's a demand for bagels in Singapore. After planning it out a bit more, I was confident enough in the concept to give it a go, even though I was aware that there is always the risk of it not working out.”

Fast forward to May this year, and The Bagel Bunch now produces around 150 bagels daily with the help of a hired baker.

His biz partner went from being a law grad to policeman, to bagel biz boss

Hemant met his current biz partners, Justin Chua (pictured, right), 30, and Wei Wen, 31, about a year ago. “Wei Wen and I were navy reservist mates. It was a very random lucky occurrence, Wei Wen was university friends with Justin, and that’s how Justin and I got connected,” he explains. 

Wei Wen and Justin both have law degrees from the UK, though only Wei Wen continues to practise law. Justin, on the other hand, has a more unique career trajectory - after obtaining his law degree, he joined the Police Force for three years as a police investigations officer, and is now the co-owner of The Bagel Bunch. 

How’d he go from almost-lawyer to policeman to bagel guy? While he declines to say why he didn’t become a lawyer, Justin laughingly shares: “I’ve always been interested in careers that were more exciting, which led me to studying law and even becoming a police officer - both of which involved me being more hands on in my duties. Later on, I felt like it was time for a change, and I was fortunate to partner with Hemant and Wei Wen on The Bagel Bunch”. 

He doesn’t feel that his law degree is a waste either. “It’s not a waste of time, it was useful for me to know more about how the legal system works, so if I need to in future, I can refer to it,” he says. 

According to Hemant, both his and Justin’s parents didn’t object to them giving up their corporate careers to pursue their bagel biz. “Our parents were very supportive of the venture,” he asserts. 

Currently, Hemant and Justin oversee the daily ops, together with a baker and barista. Meanwhile, Wei Wen handles the paperwork.

Asian-inflected fillings 

The Bagel Bunch has introduced two new menu items at their store that weren't previously sold online: The Bagel Brunch ($9.90), loaded with five-spice bacon, hashbrown, eggs, and cheese, plus Veggie Delight ($12.90), a vegetarian option containing portobello mushrooms.

All their other bagels are also sold here: the Classic Breakfast ($7.90), featuring five-spice bacon, eggs and cheese, B.W.A.K. (short for "brekkie with a kick", $12.90), with spicy chicken, hashbrown and cheese, smoked salmon Lox Of Love ($13.90), Korean Fried Chicken ($12.90), and Butter Chicken Bonanza ($12.90). The butter chicken is made in-house with a mix of spices blended with cream cheese as a nod to the classic Indian dish. 

Meanwhile, a Plain, Sesame Seed or Cheddar Bagel with no filling costs $4 each. 

Slightly cheaper than other rival bagel shops

The items here are cheaper than at popular bagel joints like Two Men Bagel House, Keen’s Bagelry and Beigelhaus. For instance, the smoked salmon bagels at the other three bagel shops are priced from $16 to $18, while The Bagel Bunch’s costs $13.90. That being said, we haven’t placed all four bagel offerings side-by-side for a size comparison, though. 

The towkays tell 8days.sg how much they invested in the biz off the record, adding that the three of them are sole owners. They share that so far, business has been good: “For the first two weeks we sold out almost everyday. That was very heartening as it underlined the interest that the public had, which I was concerned about, ‘cos when you open a shop for the first time you never really know,” Hemant says.