Brief Description of Vigor Kobo
Founded in 1992, Vigor Kobo is one of the market leaders in the manufacture of traditional Chinese cakes and pastries, especially its pillar product Pineapple Cake (凤梨酥). In 2012, Vigor Kobo opened its first dream factory to welcome customers and guests to visit the behind-the-scenes of their well-known Pineapple Cake, at the same time engaging in some hands-on baking experience with the staff members.
3 Highlights from Visit to Vigor Kobo
- Vision and Belief. They have a very simple vision, which is to manufacture premium traditional pastries as souvenirs. They believe that customers buy their pastries with the purpose of sharing with their loved ones, which is more than just the act of eating alone. This is in parallel to my organisation’s belief; customers do not purchase mere jewellery, every piece of jewellery tells a story and is a blessing to the buyer and loved ones.
- Shrewd Marketing. Vigor Kobo has identified a key target audience that other local bakeries did not consider before – Tourists. Similar to Soo Kee Group, they face fierce competition from many well-known local brands and found a need to differentiate themselves significantly. Hence, they created breakthroughs and became the only bakery in Taiwan to be publicly listed. They also achieved the Halal certification to reach a wider target market. Aligning marketing strategies with their vision to become a premium traditional pastries manufacturer, they opened their first Dream Factory in 2012 to host customers and tourists. Through the opening of Dream Factory, they realised that their consumer base consists of 70% tour groups and 30% other individuals. Vigor Kobo is now a hugely successful bakery with just over 300 employees, but a yearly sales returns of approximately S$40m (yes, just pastries).
Dream Factory.
- Emotions. I believe the opening of Dream Factory is a large contributor to their success now. Through our own experiences and witness of other tour groups, we saw how excited and positive visitors were after they got to bake their own pineapple cakes. The positive mood definitely plays a part in their buying decisions, especially when Chinese tourists have a tendency to purchase souvenirs for family and friends back home. True enough, we witnessed many tourists (our CEP mates included) who bought cartons of neatly-packed pineapple cakes, ready to be shipped back!
Facets of Taipei 