Singapore bling

Restaurateur Eldwin Chua from Singapore has launched a second culinary brand in China, which features Chinese cuisine that intriguingly originated outside of China.

"When you make money, you cannot just save it and sit on it. The way to stay competitive is to invest and innovate," says Chua, adding that the move in 2010 doubled the previous year's growth rate.

That was also the year he was inspired to create his novelty xiaolongbao, after seeing the dumpling craze stirred by the Taiwanese chain Ding Tai Feng in Singapore.

The idea of the variety of dumpling colors came from the French dessert macaroon, but Chua believes that the success was more a result of size than color. He has sold a minimum of 500,000 dumplings every month since their introduction.

"The average dumplings weigh 30 grams, which get diners easily full, while Ding Tai Feng's dumplings are 20 grams, which are too small to satisfy the appetite. So I took the middle－25 grams, which should be right for one to finish eight for a meal," explains Chua.

Now running the empire with his younger brother, Edlan, Chua says their main philosophy is to create an environment that people always want to come back to.

"There is a saying that those who frequent don't spend big, and those who squander don't come back. And we prefer the former," says Chua.