'No animosity': Co-founder of popular Katong bakery Dona Manis opens shop next door, selling almost the same items

Is a banana pie war raging in the basement of Katong Shopping Centre?

After all, there are not just one but two shops selling similar bakes, right alongside each other, no less. 

Dona Manis, known for their banana pies, was founded in 1992 by the late Tan Tieow Teong and Mdm Soh Tho Lang, also known as Auntie Peng, as reported by 8 Days.

Just this month on April 9, however, a new shop named Auntie Peng Banana Pie sprouted up right beside it, taking over the vacant space left by ice cream shop Humble Scoop.

The new business prompted some netizens to wonder if the split was acrimonious, with one post on Facebook group Can Eat! SG, published April 13, claiming that Auntie Peng was "kicked out" of the business. 

But if you ask the owners, the online chatter may just be making a mountain out of a molehill.

AsiaOne understands that after Tieow Teong passed on last October, his share of the business was handed over to his daughter, Esther. Auntie Peng, on the other hand, later told Esther of her desire to retire before leaving the business at the end of March.

Speaking to AsiaOne, Auntie Peng's son, Tan Ee Hsing, 48, maintains that there is "no animosity" between the two businesses.

Hsing did not, however, give a direct response as to whether there was another reason his mum left Dona Manis, only to state that it was a matter of differing objectives. He shared cryptically: "Different people, different views and perspectives."

He shared with us, too, that the back-end operations of Dona Manis had up till recently been run mainly by members of his family, including both his parents as well as his sister, a cousin and an aunt, along with two kitchen helpers.

His aunt later quit to look after her grandchild but the rest are currently working at Auntie Peng's, added Hsing. The former F&B server had been working in the kitchen at Dona Manis himself for three years.

When asked if opening up shop right next door might be deemed an unfriendly move, Hsing saw no such issue.

"Dona Manis' new owner is Esther, and she brought in her kitchen helpers from her own company. She minds her business, we mind our business. All is good, life is simple," said Hsing, who clarified that their business is under his father's name. He also stated that they'd taken the opportunity as they'd noticed that their current shop space had been left vacant for some time. 

When asked how their new bakery differentiates themselves from Dona Manis, Hsing stated tongue-in-cheek: "They [Dona Manis] have more items than us, kuehs and colourful cakes that look nice and can attract attention easily. We have limited items and are boring."

He pointed out that besides banana pies, their other signature items also include butter cakes, "sometimes there's cream horn, egg tarts and cheese tarts".

He added that his mum still comes in to the shop on most days to supervise the baking, albeit with reduced hours.

"She wanted to keep active, also my sis and I are not seasoned bakers yet so she needs to make sure we don't mess up her years of hard work," Hsing joked.

As Esther is overseas at the moment, we managed to get in touch with her daughter, Claire Shen, 40, who has been roped into the business "in this season" to set up the current team at Dona Manis.

From her, AsiaOne learnt that Dona Manis had originally belonged to Esther, who still owns a separate catering company supplying cakes and bakes to hotels. Auntie Peng was also a former staff of Esther's before the latter introduced her to her dad and the two formed a partnership to sell the famed pies.

'We want to continue my grandfather's legacy'

Like Hsing, Claire also denied any hostility between the two now-rival businesses, but admitted that her family was slightly taken aback by the new development as Auntie Peng had told them she'd wanted to retire.

"At the end of the day, we will always go back to why we want to continue the business, firstly, to continue my grandfather's legacy and secondly, to continue his heart for serving the community."

She also refuted claims that Auntie Peng was "kicked out" of Dona Manis.

"How do you kick a partner out, it's impossible as there are some business procedures when ending a partnership," she stated, describing the process which included a transfer of shares.

Claire added: "Yes, we were surprised things turned out this way. But we went back to our whys... My grandfather was also a man who treasures relationships. He had a long working partnership with Auntie Peng and we honour her for that."

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candicecai@asiaone.com