Many epidemic home bakeries are closing down, but Tiap Tiap opened a S$500K store
Peranakan heritage food biz Tiap Tiap started selling on a Facebook group, now it’s a full retail outlet
Most food businesses start with a business plan. A Peranakan heritage food brand Tip Tip started with pandan cake and friends who kept asking Sophia Yeow to cook for them.
Six years on, what started as a two-brand home operation during a circuit breaker in Singapore has grown into a brick-and-mortar outlet on East Coast Road in Joo Chiat. It’s a perfect location for the brand, focusing on the Peranakan heritage of the neighborhood where Sophia grew up.
The Vulcan Post spoke with Sophia, 55, and her daughter, Nicole Lian, 29, about how a small family business grew into a brick-and-mortar brand, and what it takes to get there.
The accident that changed everything
Sophia launched Tiap Tiap in 2020 when an accident sent her to the hospital and caused her to think about what she really valued in life.
He previously spent twenty years in senior roles in marketing and communications associated with a child enrichment center in Bukit Timah and his friend.
What was important to me was family. So I walked away from everything.
Sophia Yeow
Sophia sold the enrichment business, gave six months’ notice at her corporate job, and spent time traveling with her parents and cooking for the people she loved.
Encouraged by a friend, Sophia started posting on the Singapore Home-cooked Delights Facebook group. He started with only three products: pandan chiffon cake, radish kueh, and yam kueh. He wasn’t sure if anyone would buy.
He was surprised that strangers not only placed orders but also shared updates in the group, helping the word spread organically.
Soon, banks and other organizations looking to support local businesses during the crisis began placing orders. At one point, Sophia was coordinating deliveries to 150 locations across Singapore within two days, all by herself while she was busy with production.
Today, Tiap Tiap has set up a 500 sq ft central kitchen in Bedok, while its production capacity has increased by 500% since its early pandemic days.
A mother and daughter business
In 2021, MediaCorp, after seeing his Instagram account where he shared food, travel and daily life snippets, reached out to ask if he would consider joining MasterChef Singapore.
Despite his lack of experience, he did it anyway, making it to 24. The experience led her to the next home cooking competition, the Lee Kum Kee Supreme Chef Cooking Competition II, which Sophia won the same year.
Pageants made Sophia more visible, but for her daughter, Nicole, her talent was never in doubt.
Nicole grew up watching her mother set the family table differently from each other. Sophia hosted themed dinners regularly. Indonesian nights meant banana leaves and similar dishes; a trip to Athens meant a week’s worth of Mediterranean food, served with scraps that Sophia had brought back especially for the occasion. Apart from food, all experiences related to food were equally important in the family.
“When I was growing up, I knew there was something special about his cooking,” said Nicole.
So when Sophia started Tiap Tiap, Nicole recommended the brand to friends and colleagues—she just believed in what her mother was doing.
After COVID-19, Nicole noted that while many home businesses collapsed as restrictions eased, Tiap Tiap’s orders kept coming. This forced Nicole to leave her corporate job in 2024 to join Tiap Tiap as a Managing Director.
Nicole brought functional design to what her mother had been working on instinctively and creatively by creating an order system that made planning and completing orders easy.
Sharing Peranakan values
By then, Tiap Tiap had grown beyond cakes.
The brand also hosts the Butterfly Table, a secret meal held at Sophia’s home.
The three-hour weekly dinner features Peranakan cuisine, storytelling and Sophia’s collection of classic dishes, giving guests a deeper appreciation of the culture behind the food.
The Butterfly Table was born after an executive who had tasted Sophia’s cooking invited her to cater for Temasek and its board of directors for a month.
That opportunity led him to his first private dining experience at home—Peranakan look of Singapore’s current Ambassador to China, Peter Tan, who later told him it was like coming home.
Limited expansion
Opening a body shop was not a sudden decision.
Before committing to a full-time retail location, Sophia and Nicole spent two years testing demand using pirates, allowing them to gauge customer interest and learn how to scale the business without taking on a lot of money.
Their first slogan at Takashimaya in 2025 used to sell out within 10 minutes of each stock, customers rushing for a batch of cakes to arrive from Tiap Tiap’s central kitchen.
At Boutiques Singapore, vendors from across the region stocked up on cakes before the doors opened, leaving the public with little stock at 10AM.
The pop-ups confirmed what years of online orders had already raised: the demand for Tiap Tiap has passed the epidemic. Today, nearly 40% of its customers are repeat customers who have supported the brand since its home-based days.
Once that validation was established, the team spent time in the central kitchen refining SOPs, building a team, and figuring out how to measure the product reliably before making a sales commitment.
The store at 374 East Coast Road was finally opened in late June 2026. The original cost came in at a little under S$500,000—self-funded, with no external funding.
Taking one step at a time
Today, Tiap Tiap’s East Coast Road outlet serves as a shopping concept, offering a range of delicious and flavorful Peranakan fare.
The sweets are made on site, while the sweet range and delivery orders continue to be prepared at the brand’s central kitchen in Bedok.
Although Sophia and Nicole continue to come to the store almost every day, Nicole’s immediate goal is to build the business to the point where it can operate without either of them physically present.
After six years, neither mother nor daughter likes to jump from corporate life to entrepreneurship. Passion, says Sophia, is important—but it must be accompanied by an understanding of what customers want.
Passion without knowing what the market wants will consume you very quickly.
Sophia Yeow
- Read more about Tiap Tiap here.
- Read more articles about Singapore businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Veronica C via Google Reviews, Tiap Tiap
