Fear is not in my mind, says grocer and cafe chain's CEO

Trying new things may be uncomfortable but it makes the entrepreneurial trip meaningful, says 36-year-old behind Surrey Hills Grocer.

- Wong Kim Hoh

Ms Pang Gek Teng has just finished a meeting with a supplier at Surrey Hills Grocer Raffles City when she is accosted by a staff member of the cafe needing her attention on a variety of matters.

"Being in a room with everybody looking for Gek is a new thing for me. I've never enjoyed such attention in my life," says the bubbly 36-year-old.

She also never imagined that she would in just three years go from being nearly broke to becoming the chief executive of Surrey Hills Grocer Group, which runs a chain of food and beverage outlets.

"I'm a very normal person with no special talent or skill. I'm average, and I've been average my whole life," says Ms Pang.

Others may beg to disagree.

With a $400,000 investment from a family friend, she started Surrey Hills Grocer in Upper Jurong Road in 2021. The Australian-style cafe-cum-grocer broke even in six months and was so successful that she has gone on to set up four more outlets, including a 4,184 sq ft one - the largest to date in One Holland Village that is targeted to open in March.

She is not stopping. Her team is hard at work preparing a 7,900 sq ft space that will house three different restaurants in Raffles City. Collaborations with well-known international chefs, the outlets will be unveiled later in 2024.

The disarmingly candid and self-deprecating restaurateur has, in today's parlance, found her mojo. The eldest of four children of an engineer and a housewife, Ms Pang says she is herself surprised by her current success because, before this, she was just bumbling through life.