Siblings Behind Viral Shio Pan Bakery Say They Get Scolded By Customers Daily
Tucked along the Springleaf stretch in Upper Thomson, near popular supper spot Springleaf Prata, sits an 80 sq ft standalone structure (roughly the size of two to three HDB master bedroom toilets) that siblings Ronda Koh, 43, and Gerald Koh, 33, claim is “the smallest bungalow in Singapore”. Despite its unassuming size, the tiny takeaway bakery has drawn long queues — and surprisingly, regular scoldings from unhappy walk-in customers.
Once a storage shed for cleaners beside an electrical substation, it’s now the home of the adorably named Kohpan Japanese Bakery, the siblings’ home-based shio pan venture that has been steadily gaining attention online. It’s hard to miss in real life too: a giant shio pan balloon sits right at the entrance, affectionately nicknamed “Pan Pan” by the siblings and designed by Gerald’s wife. The easy-going, jokey duo share with 8days.sg how their tiny bakery came to be.
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From painter and stay-at-home mum to shio pan bakers
Before Kohpan, neither sibling worked in F&B. Gerald is still a painter handling residential and commercial building projects with a few business partners. “That’s why we close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because I go to my painting site on those days,” Gerald explains.
So which is tougher — painting buildings or baking bread? “Painting is physically harder, but the hours are a lot shorter,” Gerald says. “Baking is fun for me, but the hours are very long.”
Will he eventually give up one for the other? “I’ll choose baking — it has become a passion of mine,” he says simply.
Ronda, on the other hand, was previously a stay-at-home mum. She has three boys aged six, 10 and 14. Do they miss her now that she spends her days baking? “I asked them recently and they said they’re okay,” she smiles. “I used to fetch them to and from school, but now they come home by themselves. I have a helper at home who picks up my youngest from school and helps to take care of them [at home].”
She tells 8days.sg that she also runs her own home-based business, WhiskbyRonda, which she started about ten years ago. She sells traditional snacks like pineapple tarts and emping belingo (an Indonesian cracker made from melinjo nut seeds). “I’m actually still continuing it, but because Kohpan is getting busy, I don’t have time for WhiskbyRonda,” she says. She adds that she plans to resume it more actively in the coming few months.
How did they learn to bake? “Occasionally, I went for classes but I've actually loved to cook and bake since young,” Ronda shares. Gerald only picked up interest and learned to bake because Ronda couldn’t attend one of her baking classes. “He went on my behalf,” she laughs. “Then from there, [his interest] started. And also whenever I cook or bake, I always let him try.”
Why shio pan?
The decision to sell shio pan started from a simple moment at home. “One fine day, Ronda went to learn how to bake shio pan from her shifu. They made a bit too much so she brought me some to try,” Gerald recalls. “I tried it and thought, ‘eh? tastes nice eh.’ I found the texture was different from the ones in Singapore.”
Since Ronda was home most days looking after her kids, Gerald suggested she use the time to experiment. They spent about six months on R&D starting from around March this year. “A friend who’s tried many shio pans in Singapore told us ours is the best [she’s had] at the moment, so that gave us the confidence to start,” Gerald shares.
They first started operating out of Ronda’s house about three months ago. But soon, the lack of privacy became an issue.
How they found Singapore’s “smallest bungalow”
One late night, after discussing relocation options, the siblings headed to Springleaf Prata for supper. Gerald happened to park beside a storage shed for cleaners next to an electrical substation and spotted a “For Rent” sign.
“I thought, wah, fated,” Gerald chuckles. The shed had been purchased by a landlord who wanted to rent it out, so they took it. “If you google it, it’s marked as the smallest bungalow in Singapore,” he laughs.
“It’s close to us, and we didn't want to put too much capital into a business we weren't sure of yet. And nowadays, rent for F&B spaces is crazy so we couldn’t afford it back then,” he says. Ronda lives in Sembawang, while Gerald lives just down the street with his in-laws while waiting for his BTO.
Photo: Google Maps
Despite how different it looks now, the structure itself wasn’t rebuilt. “The ‘house’ is actually the original shed,” Gerald explains. “We just painted it and put a canvas over it.”
Revamping the 80 sq ft space cost the siblings roughly $30K for things like waterproofing, rewiring, and simple furniture. To save money, they moved Ronda’s longtime home oven straight into the bungalow.
Plans for a second location in the Sin Ming area
The plot of land Kohpan occupies is a residential one, which is why Kohpan is still classified as a home-based business rather than a commercial F&B outlet.
It’s strictly takeaway with no dine-in allowed. “We actually wanted people to dine in, that’s why we got tables and chairs with a tent. But we realised the law is quite grey on this, so we decided to just not go there,” Gerald explains.
The siblings tell 8days.sg they’re already planning to have a second location, which will take their home-based operation into a proper shop space. “We’re looking at a place in the Sin Ming area to open a proper bakery, but it’ll likely only be next Jan or Feb that we’ll be able to start [working on it],” Gerald shares. “The new place will also not be dine-in — it’ll be a take-away bakery, but a legit shop.” Their long-term dream? Opening a dine-in café someday.
What it’s like working with a sibling
With the workload split equally between them, what’s it like running a business as brother and sister? “For me, I find it quite comforting,” Gerald smiles. “Ronda got married first and moved out, then I eventually got married and moved out. So we hardly had time to sit down and talk like we used to. But now we’ll always talk and catch up. I like to hang out with my family lah so I miss those moments. Now, [even though we work together] every day, we still have topics to talk about.”
Ronda agrees: “Since young, we’ve been very close.”
Do they get into squabbles sometimes? “Oh yes we do, quite often,” Gerald admits with a laugh. “Mainly the arguments are about the speed at which we do things, and sometimes I want to do things my way, but sometimes she wants to do things her way.”
He adds that consistency is a big deal: “When it comes to shaping bread, it has to be one person shaping. If two people were to do it together, the shape would be very different. We only bake once a day, and usually I’ll be the one doing the shaping. But let’s say halfway through my sister comes in to do it, for us we can see quite a significant difference.”
Online haters are a challenge
According to Gerald, dealing with online criticism has been tough. “I think a lot of F&B businesses face this — the online haters and keyboard warriors,” he says. “They question whether we’re legit, or sometimes they’ll say it’s very good but then post online that it’s not good, that kind of thing.”
Because Kohpan is home-based and everything is done by hand, the siblings can only produce a limited number of shio pans each day. But when they sell out, some walk-in customers get upset despite the duo repeatedly urging everyone to pre-order.
Scolded by customers daily
On most days, they’re sold out by around 11.30am.
“Every day we get some people kind of scolding us, saying ‘you open doors to do business but you sell out so easily, then you might as well don’t do.’ It’s very disheartening lah,” Gerald says softly.
Gerald says it’s usually older customers who get upset. “Mostly aunties and uncles who don’t follow us on social media,” he says. “Our younger followers will usually check our Instagram stories — I post as soon as we’re sold out.”
And no, it’s not angry DMs or phone calls. It usually happens when customers show up in person and discover there’s no more buns left for the day. “They scold me personally when I tell them we’re sold out,” Gerald shares.
Over time, the siblings say they’ve learned to take it in their stride. “At this point, we’re quite numb already,” Gerald admits. “We really try our best to make sure people don’t queue up for nothing.”
These “scoldings” only started after Kohpan went viral. “Previously, there was no attention [on us],” he adds.
Just how viral are they now? “To be honest, I’m not sure how viral we are at the moment, but our followers did grow from 1K to 4.6K in one month,” Gerald reveals. “And after 8days.sg posted our video, the jump [in customers] was quite big.”
What they offer and what’s next
Kohpan currently offers just three savoury shio pan flavours: original, mentaiko, and truffle. The Original Crispy Bottom costs $3.90 each, $11.70 for three, or $23.90 for six. The Fukuoka Mentaiko goes for $6.90 each, $18.90 for three, and $35.90 for six. The Premium Truffle is priced at $7.90 each, $21.90 for three, or $40.90 for six.
Mixed sets are also available. For example, a box of six with three flavours (two pieces each) costs $32.90.
Why those flavours? “We chose mentaiko because my sister and I love it,” Gerald says. “And before we started R&D, my sister had just come back from Fukuoka, Japan, which is known for mentaiko.”
Most of their ingredients are premium. The mentaiko is imported from Japan, the truffle from Italy, and French Lescure butter, which is AOP-certified (Appellation d’Origine Protégée is a European certification that guarantees the product is made traditionally in its region of origin).
“If we’re talking about retail, I'd say Lescure butter is one of the most expensive in Singapore. From what I heard from bakers and suppliers, usually only the top restaurants or hotels use it. Besides the taste, my sister and I personally like things that are of premium quality. We don’t want to take shortcuts so that’s why most of our ingredients are premium,” Gerald explains.
Will there be anything else on offer soon? “In the near future, we’re exploring sweeter versions like chocolate, because right now all our shio pans are savoury,” Gerald tells 8days.sg. “And when we eventually move to the next location, we’re hoping to sell more Japanese breads, like shokupan.”
Kohpan Japanese Bakery is located at 13a Thong Soon Ave, S787448. Open Mon & Thur to Sun 11am-5pm or until sold out, closed Tue & Wed. More info via Instagram.
Photos: Glyn Seah
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
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