FEATURE/When chips meet cakes: Taiwan pineapple cake brand to be featured at Computex

By Sunny Lai, CNA staff reporter

Amid the sea of high-tech wonders at this year's Computex, "something other than technology" will be offered to visitors -- the opportunity to enjoy delicious pastries and tea promoted by a leading Taiwanese pineapple cake brand.

For the first time, SunnyHills has been invited to participate in Computex, one of the world's largest computer and technology trade fairs, which will be held in Taipei from June 4 to 7, giving visitors from around the world a chance to "enjoy Taiwanese pastries," Michael Sheu (許銘仁), founder of the brand, said recently in an exclusive interview with CNA.

Apart from distributing welcome packs filled with pastries to overseas guests, SunnyHills will provide one free pineapple cake and a cup of tea to everyone who visits the 165-square-meter tea-serving lounge during the four-day fair.

This mirrors the unique service offered at SunnyHills' branches in Taiwan and abroad, said Joe Shih (施宏漳), the brand's chief executive officer.

On this important occasion for Taiwan, SunnyHills wants to showcase "something other than technology" that Taiwan has to offer, by demonstrating great hospitality, Shih added.

The tech duo

Both Sheu and Shih are no stranger to this kind of occasion, as the duo have had years of experience in the technology industry.

Sheu, in his 60s, is the founder of Asian Information Technology Group, an electronics and integrated circuit (IC) component distributor that became part of WPG Holdings in 2009, just one year after he established SunnyHills in his hometown of Nantou County with relatives, including his younger brother, a farmer, and his uncle, a pastry chef.

Shih previously worked as a manager at a few technology companies. He was Taiwan country manager for Conexant Systems, Inc., a software developer and fabless semiconductor company, before joining SunnyHills in 2012.

When asked if he specifically sought out individuals with backgrounds in technology to run the brand with him, Sheu said it was not intentional, "but the people I know are all tech people."

Technology in pastry making

With his like-minded partner from the technology sector, Sheu, seated at one of the tables at the brand's bustling Songshan branch in Taipei, where a continuous stream of customers came to experience the unique hospitality, explained to CNA the technology involved in some of the products.

"When it comes to pastry making, who would think of using a water jet cutter?" Sheu asked, holding a piece of banana waffle cookie that ranks as the brand's third best-selling product due to its adorable animal shapes that can hang on the rims of coffee cups.

He added that the fine, high-pressure cut from a water jet cutter ensures the flavor of banana -- a fruit that is difficult to process as its flavor is easily lost when heated -- is retained during the cutting process.

For the signature pineapple cakes, Sheu said the product originally had a shelf life of only 15 days, but that was extended to 45 days after adding a layer of aluminum oxide, a material used by some Japanese companies in semiconductor manufacturing, to the new packaging.

In terms of blocking air and moisture, the new packaging represents an efficiency improvement of over 90 percent compared to the previous packaging, according to Sheu.

'Differentiation'

Like the advanced processes utilized by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to make advanced chips, the uncommon manufacturing and packaging methods along with the unique free pineapple cake and tea set SunnyHills apart from its competitors, reflecting Sheu's business philosophy of creating "differentiation."

"At first, when people came here to enjoy tea, many of them, especially overseas customers, asked how much they need to pay -- they are surprised to find out it's free of charge," Sheu said.

With the opportunity to sit and think about who they want to buy souvenirs, customers often end up purchasing more after having a taste of the free pineapple cake served with a cup of tea, he added.

"For the food, you also need to make it very delicious and of high quality and when you add that all up, it leads to word-of-mouth promotion," Sheu noted.

Promoting Taiwan with fruit

Currently, 30 percent of SunnyHills' revenue comes from overseas markets, including sales from its three branches and several pop-up stores in Japan and Singapore, and the company estimates that total revenue this year will reach NT$1.3 billion (US$40.33 million).

Despite these achievements, Sheu is not resting on his laurels. He and his team have developed a new brand, "Smille," which primarily sells a U-shaped mille-feuille filled with various kinds of fruit.

"I come from the countryside, and I understand the challenges facing Taiwan's fruit industry... We have so much good fruit, but we often end up with a surplus," Sheu said, adding that it is difficult to sell fresh fruit to overseas markets due to storage issues and import regulations in different countries.

However, after processing fresh fruit can not only be stored for longer, but can also be turned into various kinds of desserts and generate high value with help from branding, he said.

"We have high expectations for this brand and hope it will introduce Taiwanese fruit to overseas markets in the future," Sheu said with a smile.