The founder of Vive Cake Boutique, Vivien Lau, has shared her success story with HKTDC’s online magazine Hong Kong Means Business.

The bespoke dessert maker started her business for online orders in 2014 before opening a pop-up in The Pulse mall. She now has two Vive Cake Boutiques in Wan Chai and Central serving cakes, cupcakes, macarons, cookies and other confectioneries.

With a long list of celebrity clientele, Lau’s low-fat, low sugar approach to baking has predominantly won favour with female customers (many of whom are young parents) who are concerned about their health and diet.

“It was a one-man band operation before I set up my pop-up store, taking bespoke orders online via Instagram and Facebook, and through friends at my private studio in Central,” said Lau. “I learnt and made everything from scratch. But I realised you only have two hands, and there’s only a limited number of cakes that you can make with them.

“People also make a lot of last-minute requests but I could not always cater to those. So I decided it was time to expand the business from made-to-order to retail. I did a lot of market research and found a niche in the market. What I’ve achieved has certainly gone beyond my expectations.”

Lau has created corporate collaborations with H&M, Lane Crawford, Estee Lauder and Cath Kidston, amongst others.

Lau said she is considering opening other Vive Cake Boutique stores in Hong Kong, but not overseas outlets at the moment. She is seeking opportunities to work with other businesses and reinforce her branding position in Hong Kong.

Source: Hong Kong Means Business