Why Tim Ho Wan is still expanding in Singapore while others retreat

Instead of reinventing the wheel, Hong Kong dim sum chain Tim Ho Wan is doubling down on the basics

Eateries have had a tough couple of years. In 2024, Singapore saw its highest number of F&B business closures in 20 years, with over 3,000 establishments shutting their doors. 2025 witnessed a similar trend, with the Ministry of Trade and Industry reporting that 2,431 businesses closed in the first 10 months of the year. 

Apart from local operators, international chains have also shrunk and even succumbed to this rapid pace of closures, with the likes of US’ Eggslut, England’s PizzaExpress and Taiwan’s Hollin proving that scale and recognition are no longer a safety net in Singapore’s F&B scene.

So when Vulcan Post received an exclusive invitation to a media tour and witness the opening of Tim Ho Wan’s tenth store in Hong Kong last week, it was admittedly easy to dismiss the offer as “another store opening.” However, through the tour, we found out how their strategy might be the right counter to Singapore’s tough F&B scene: starting with introducing new products that pay homage to their classics.

Vulcan Post caught up with Yeong Sheng Lee, CEO of Tim Ho Wan, in an exclusive interview to understand how the business plans to continue thriving in Singapore’s cutthroat F&B scene, starting with their products. 

Why Singapore is a tough nut to crack for international brands

Having managed multiple F&B brands in Southeast Asia for almost a decade, Yeong Sheng Lee knows just how challenging the food scene really is, especially in Singapore. 

While Singapore presents itself as an open market for foreign brands, multiple factors can result in costly miscalculations that make even the biggest of brands struggle. Lee acknowledged that the market has seen an increase in challenges post COVID-19, including rising operational costs, a shortage of labour, and meeting customers who have high standards for both food quality and value. 

“What I actually mean by value is that not everyone is looking for things that are cheap, and there’s a clear difference. Cheap is when I always want to go for the lowest pricing, but value is where for the price that I’m paying, am I getting more than what I should actually be expecting?”  

When asked if the pessimism shared by Singaporean netizens and entrepreneurs is impeding the local market, Lee remained optimistic that the brand would continue to grow its presence in the country for the long term rather than pulling back like many other chains. 

“I wouldn’t actually say it’s pessimism. It’s just a phase that we actually go through, like every other market would actually have its highs and lows. No doubt, while it is actually challenging in Singapore for our team, we remain optimistic and confident about the Singapore market.” 

But what is the secret to his confidence? It turns out to be simpler than one might expect. 

Redefining Value for the Singaporean Market 

As the food industry is an extremely trend-sensitive sector, Lee emphasised the importance of constant innovation to keep up with short attention spans, and this comes from introducing seasonal items, from limited-time-only menus to elevated versions of bestsellers. 

For example, the success of Tim Ho Wan’s signature pork bun gave inspiration to a new item. Lee shared that the chefs started working to create a cousin to their signature baked pork bun, and were exploring ingredients that could create a black-coloured crust. They decided on truffle, following the success of truffle food offerings worldwide.

“For the price that I’m paying, I’m getting a black truffle chicken bun, something which would be a strong indication of value to a lot of consumers. So value in this case is what are we actually putting into our products? What are the ingredients we’re using?” 

This ethos also translates into their festive menus. For this year’s Chinese New Year menu, Tim Ho Wan introduced limited edition dishes, such as steamed scallops—an ingredient not often found in fast casual chains—deep-fried nian gao (rice cake) and steamed chicken in wine broth. Localised offerings, including Bak Kut Teh dumplings and Musang Wang durian sesame balls, also help to maintain relevance in the local market.

Lee also added that chefs play a major role in menu innovations, and they are constantly experimenting with new seasonal products based on on-hand customer research. This allows them to avoid introducing products that do not resonate with the local crowd, reducing risk in a market where failed launches are costly.  

Beyond menu innovations, operations also matter. Lee pointed out that food deliveries have been growing in Singapore, and the business has been working on curating its menu with products—including bento sets—that are more durable for deliveries. Tim Ho Wan has been introducing refreshed layouts of their stores, such as its Westgate outlet, with more open layouts and brighter lighting.

While these initiatives seem mundane at first, they are also crucial for the brand’s survival in a time when many restaurants have been experiencing declining traffic. 

Ensuring consistency even as the business scales up

As the brand continued to elevate its offerings, consistency was another factor that Tim Ho Wan had to get right, especially after the brand was acquired by Jollibee Group in Jan 2025.

Instead of giving Tim Ho Wan a total overhaul, the first thing Lee focused on was building upon the brand’s strengths, working with the chefs and backend operation teams to understand how the brand grew and thrived over a decade: from getting their first Michelin Star a year after opening, to expanding to 11 markets in Asia, Australia and the US.

Leveraging on Jollibee’s expertise, Lee helped the company streamline their operations across company-owned establishments, joint ventures and franchises. He also introduced the Experts Chef Program: a training programme where chefs across all markets will come to Hong Kong to learn Tim Ho Wan’s recipes and replicate them to the same standard. 

To verify this on the ground, Vulcan Post also spoke to Chef Cheung Yit Sing, who is also Global Product Innovation Director of Tim Ho Wan, to learn more about the training process and how the business foundation is kept.  

From working at pushcart restaurants to cooking at hotels and conventions, Chef Cheung has been making dim sum since 1982 and is now in charge of teaching Tim Ho Wan’s recipes to other chefs. He shared that as the creator of a specific dish, he starts every training with a lecture, followed by a demonstration of how it’s made. 

The chefs will then get to taste the dish to understand the standard that they need to hit before making it. After learning the recipes, the chefs will then undergo an assessment to be scored for them to maintain their operational benchmarks. 

“Currently, our passing mark is at 90 out of 100, because the standard is really high to ensure that when they are able to match the quality when they leave,” Chef Cheung shared in Mandarin, adding that it will take at least a day for the chefs to learn two recipes. 

Don’t fix what doesn’t need to be fixed 

Globally, Tim Ho Wan has experienced a 5.2% increase in revenue in Q3 2025 compared to the first half of the year, with encouraging results in newer market entries in the United States. Following the opening of their first company-owned outlet in Irvine, California, Lee shared that the country will be a key market for the brand and expressed his ambition to open 20 additional stores by 2028.

In Singapore, Tim Ho Wan saw a 7% growth in the same period, and the brand has nine outlets in the country since its entry 13 years ago. While Lee revealed that the company is constantly looking for new opportunities to introduce more locations, he also emphasised that the team is not rushing to open new locations to meet timelines—a move that differs from other big chains that overstretched after aggressively expanding.  

“We will continue looking at opportunities, but at the same time, we are actually investing in building our organisation’s capability and strengthening our systems and processes,” he explained. “It’s a combination of these factors that we continue to look at how we accelerate our growth in Singapore sustainably, because we are not in this for the short term.”  

In a market where even well-known international names are struggling to stay afloat, Tim Ho Wan’s strategy stands in contrast to the churn. Rather than expanding aggressively or reinventing its identity, the brand focused on offering classics and modern versions of dim sum, while also staying intentional with its expansions.

• Learn more about Tim Ho Wan here.
• Read more stories we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

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Featured Image Credit: Tim Ho Wan