How This Self-Made Food Entrepreneur Is Encouraging Singaporeans To Eat & Live Better
Cedele founder Ms. Yeap Cheng Guat hopes to help people and drive a positive impact with her brand of healthy bakes and wholesome, delicious food
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A focus on eating well and the ingredients that go on our plates has been at the forefront of food trends in the past few years. But for Cedele founder Ms. Yeap Cheng Guat, who goes by Cheng, her foray into mindful, healthy eating started 25 years ago in 1997. Formerly an avid home baker, the 59-year-old was then working a corporate job in branding and marketing. Taking a leap of faith, she opened her first physical bakery selling clean bakes — then known as The Bakery Depot — in Siglap.
Blue Pea Sourdough. Photo: Cedele
Now in its 25th year, the F&B stalwart has 24 outlets under its belt. Under the Cedele umbrella, there are three main concepts: the Cedele Bakery, a quick-service concept, and the Bakery Kitchen, billed as a fast-casual dining concept with both counter service and dine-in options. And for a leisurely meal or gathering with delicious, wholesome breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus, there are the full-service All Day Dining restaurants. The Bakery Depot Pte Ltd also owns Workspace Espresso and Toss & Turn.
Pssst! As a big thank you to its customers for their support throughout the years, Cedele is celebrating its 25th birthday with 25 per cent off selected all-time favourite breads and pastries, wholesome food, groceries and cakes in-store and online from now till Aug 9, 2022! Plus, check out its online store or restaurants each week for different deals. Terms and conditions apply.
The brand's ethos of helping customers to “Eat Well, Be Well” is reflected in the menu, with fresh, carefully sourced, and curated ingredients that are loaded with nutrients. It's also designed to be free of trans-fat, added artificial additives, and artificially processed ingredients such as food colouring, improvers, or premixes. Only olive oil is used in its cooking, and whole grains like quinoa, brown rice, as well as whole foods are consciously introduced into its recipes — yes, even dessert.
The luscious Real Dark Chocolate cake, for instance, is made with pure olive oil as well as grated green apple for extra fibre, while the Red Velvet Cake gets its natural red hue from beetroot. Its crowd-favourite Carrot Walnut Cake also uses raw walnuts, which Cheng believes retain more of their nutritional benefits.
Speaking of sweet treats, indulging in that sweet tooth is a tad less guilty here too, with Cedele rolling out baked goods that use organic unrefined sugar, alongside olive oil and European butter. Cheng stumbled across the benefits of using the alternative sugar in 2004, when she discovered that her late mother, who was diabetic, could consume cakes and tong sui (Chinese sweet soup) without seeing a spike in her blood sugar levels.
Cedele's bread and pastries are handmade from scratch and baked in small batches daily so quality isn't compromised. Apart from using only unbleached flour, the brand also avoids using preservatives, improvers and emulsifiers.
Love sourdough? Its sourdough bread is naturally leavened with a 25-year-old sourdough starter and goes through a long 24-hour fermentation process whilst other types of bread undergo a pre-fermentation process of at least 12 hours that Cedele says helps in better digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Whether you or your dining companions are going vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, flexitarian or on a keto diet, Cedele has options that run the gamut from hearty burgers, to pastas, wraps, and grills you can fill up on.
And while its menu is built on the tenets of putting good, wholesome food into your body, it doesn't mean it falls short when it comes to flavours. The tasty Grilled Beetroot & Avocado Sandwich is a party on the palate with a smokey grilled beetroot patty, vegan mayo, and a swipe of sweet moreish chilli jam. It's wedged between vegan buns, made with coconut milk to yield a pillowy fluffiness.
You'll find egg- and sugar-free options when it comes to its range of bread and cakes too — try the Rye Sourdough, Rustic Country White or the savoury Onion Olive Coriander Bread. For a decadent treat, the rich velvety Eggless Chocolate Truffle crafted with Belgian 70 per cent couverture chocolate is suitable for vegetarians.
What inspires Cedele's offerings? Right off the bat, Cheng has been a firm believer in listening to the needs of her customers, with her creations influenced by requests made by friends and patrons, be it sugar-free options for those who are diabetic to dairy-free concoctions for the lactose-intolerant.
In fact, she started serving soup after a customer smelt and wanted to try some of the wild mushroom soup she had made for herself at the store. "Plus, soup and bread go hand in hand," she adds. Similarly, the signature Rosemary Chicken Sandwich was added to the menu when her customers saw her making her own sandwich in the store.
Throughout the years, Cheng tells us that she has read through all the letters and feedback from customers, some of whom have become friends. From there, the team continuously adapts, refines, or creates new recipes to advocate healthy eating and help people make better food choices.
She shares, "As a homegrown brand, it is our dream for our local community in Singapore to be armed with the knowledge to eat mindfully." She explains that eating well and being well as a community is vital in being sustainable in the long run and this is reflected in the menus served at Cedele. "We want to continue to be a hub whereby people can enjoy thoughtfully crafted menus that are inclusive for vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians," she adds.
Visit Cedele's website for more information, online delivery, and outlet locations.
A Cedele special brought to you by The Singapore Women's Weekly.