SWEET SUPPLIERS

Dessert suppliers are behind some of Singapore's most ubiquitous sweet treats and their creations are widespread in the F&B industry, from five-star hotels to bubble tea chains

- Cherie Lok

A meal at a cafe or casual restaurant typically ends in one of four or five ways: with a lava cake, cheesecake, brownie or scoop of gelato. If dining at a Chinese eatery, dessert might take the form of a paste of some sort — perhaps a bowl of jelly adorned with canned fruit.

Not everything is whipped up fresh on-site. At many of these establishments, you may be getting the same product made at the same central kitchen by the same few hands.

Enter the suppliers responsible for some of Singapore's most ubiquitous desserts, whose creations have percolated throughout the culinary ecosystem, landing everywhere from five-star hotels to bubble tea chains. You name it, they probably made some part of it.

Usually accustomed to operating behind the scenes, they step out of the shadows to tell The Straits Times how they spent decades contouring the country's sweet tooth, and why the same few items are found at the end of so many menus.

A PRE-MADE PARADISE Ms Joyleen Khoo, 62, co-owner of Dessert Guru, started her career in the food and beverage industry as a hawker in Bedok, then a cafe owner with outlets at Pearls Centre and Far East Plaza. During her latter stint, the popularity of one offering — a soursop drink — sparked an idea: Why not sell the base ingredient in puree form?

The pivot came just in time. When the financial crisis hit in 1997, Ms Khoo and her husband closed their cafe and focused on perfecting their soursop puree recipe, and getting their fledging original equipment manufacturer business off the ground.

Out of this idea sprung 10, then 20, then 50 others. Today, their larder is filled with just about every ingredient one might need to run a bubble tea or Chinese dessert store: purees pulped from avocado or durian; jellies that can be slurped like noodles or rolled into balls that burst in the mouth; pre-made sesame and peanut paste; and toppings such as attap seeds, chendol and grass jelly.