'Heart pain lah, it's our hard-earned money': Shane Pow admits F&B venture might shutter due to losses

Not even celebrity status can bring in the crowd sometimes.

Local actor Shane Pow has had several F&B ventures over the years: From Mojo, a hip Telok Ayer eatery and corporate catering service, to Gogiyo, a Korean barbecue and army stew hawker chain.

However, the 32-year-old recently admitted to local media 8days that he may have to shutter some Gogiyo outlets, revealing: "We're just carrying on until the lease ends and we'll just see how it goes."

"In the foreseeable future, I don't see our business suddenly tripling. But I think it's a good try lah, we all agree that we tried and gave it all we had. If it doesn't end well then so be it," he added.

Shane had started Gogiyo with three of his childhood friends in late 2020 and currently there are four outlets in Toa Payoh, Bukit Merah, Bedok South and Ubi.

In the first year, they were doing well, but Shane reckoned it was because of Covid-19 restrictions that meant people were having "cheaper options for nice Korean food" for takeaway. Since restrictions were lifted, he's realised that people may prefer to have a proper meal at a sit-down Korean restaurant instead.

It's been "a very weird period" for Shane and many of his other friends in the F&B business, he revealed, but despite his losses at Gogiyo, he doesn't seem too bitter about it.

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He said: "Heart pain lah, it's our hard-earned money, but no choice. It's always a risk when you do business. I mean, I did F&B before, made some money, lost some money. I invested in other stuff, some made money, some lost money, there's no guarantee.

"The most important thing is to go in with the mentality that you're not going to get your money back, and that's what we went in with."

Shane isn't just in the F&B business, he seems to be a foodie as well.

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For his recent role in the Mediacorp drama Love At First Bite, he had to put on a lot of weight quickly and relished being able to gorge on tacos during a trip to the United States.

"My belly was so chubby, it was quite memorable," he told AsiaOne in an interview. "I didn't want to half-a** it, so I was like, okay, I need to make sure that I really have a tummy there that really has fats, so that when I jiggle, it will really jiggle."

And if you want cooking tips from the man himself, he has a mean — but healthy — pad see ew (Thai stir-fried noodles) recipe he's shared on his Instagram too.

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ALSO READ: 'Maybe I needed that wake-up call': Shane Pow looks back on life a year after release from prison

drimac@asiaone.com