Featured Vendor: Mr. Waffle

The idea of selling real authentic handmade Belgian waffles here in Shanghai was born somewhere in 2011, but it was just an idea back then. I only made the decision to fully go for it after the company I worked for (and that brought me to China mid 2010) retreated from the Chinese market last year. In July 2013 I started off with searching for the most authentic recipes, testing, testing and more testing. In September 2013 I finally opened my online shop and later in the year I did my first (Christmas) markets. In January I came to Jiashan market for the first time, liked it a lot, and now I’m here to stay!

All my waffles are all handmade following the most authentic Belgian recipes and using the highest quality local and imported ingredients. I don’t use any artificial flavouring, preservatives or anything else not natural. No shortcuts are taken, which means lots of work, but you will taste that in the end result. And that is what counts!

Next to the most famous fresh Belgian waffles (the Brussels style and Liege style) I also have an assortment of cookie style waffles that can be enjoyed as coffee, tea or anytime-of-the-day snack. The Liege waffle and the cookie waffles are sold also online on my website, TaoBao shop and more recently also on kateandkimi.com and at Juicycle, a healthy juice shop on 35 Nanyang Rd, behind Plaza 66. I hope to add more sales points soon and eventually I want to open my own small waffle house, of course!

The Brussels waffle can only be made and served fresh and is therefore currently exclusively for markets and events.

It always has been my dream to start my own business, and so far it has been great for sure! The thing I like the most is the total freedom you have and to see your hard work paid off if your customers really like it and taste the difference!

My ultimate dream is to built a brand that people associate with healthy, natural and handmade and it’s great to work for that everyday.

Shanghai is a perfect place to do that, since there’s so much interest, by locals and expats alike, in food specialities from around the globe and it’s great and motivating to see there’s so many others doing something similar (and succeeding in it!)

Challenges in running you’re own business are numerous, and important! They will tell you what to do, will push you to go further, try harder, grow & exceed  your own capabilities. It’s what other people get from having a great boss, business owners get from a good challenge!

So far the biggest challenge for me was to register and set up the legal side of the business; which, as most things in China, took a lot of patience and time. Fortunately I got a great agent to help me on that!

Another, more waffle related challenge, is an ongoing one: to adopt great Belgian recipes to local taste. I want every waffle to be most authentic, but at the mean time also appealing to the local taste. My ‘Mons’ matcha waffle is a great result of that: the base recipe is a typical Belgian waffle, but slightly changed to local taste by adding Matcha green tea to it.

This approach I want to continue following when developing more waffles in the future!

Definitely the community spirit! Since the focus of the market is international food, it’s great to meet and talk to others, exchange ideas and challenges, get and give tips and just have a good time!

I’ve only been here 3 times now, so not the greatest weather so far, but I can already imagine the space on a sunny Spring morning, great food smell everywhere and just people chilling around having a good time!

And sunny afternoons on one of the many great rooftop bars, drinking 1 or more Duvels and thinking how great it is that Shanghai has so many Belgian beers available. And now they have great waffles too. Life’s good.