Bringing traditional German confection Baumkuchen to Singapore is Japanese confectionery producer, Juchheim Co Ltd, with the opening of its first overseas outlet at Takashimaya Shopping Centre along Orchard Road. Located at Basement 2 of the mall, the outlet, which opened last April, is also the company’s largest store, complete with live demonstrations and video feeds of the Baumkuchen baking process by Master Chef Furuya Yasuo, as well as a range of imported biscuits and cookies.

Juchheim’s Singapore CEO, Gyobu Takuto, disclosed that the group, which pioneered the German layered cake in Japan nearly a century ago, has 10 different brands that range from cafés and restaurants to other confectionery products. It has about 200 stores in Japan.

In its first overseas venture, the company also revealed at its launch last month that it took measures to deliver a confection that would be readily accepted by consumers here.

“Before we opened the outlet here, we did some market research and we [realised] that Singaporeans prefer softer and [moister] cakes. So we have improvised on our technique and the ones that we make here are not as firm as the ones in Japan,” Takuto commented.

Depending on the preferred size of the cake, each Baumkuchen is sealed and packed in boxes of vibrant orange, lime green and turquoise blue, a detail that is also unique to the outlet in Singapore and differentiates it from its Japanese counterpart.

Takuto also revealed that the company’s second overseas outlet in Shanghai, China, would have opened last month at the Jiu Guang Department Store.