Imagine if you really wanted some Korean food, but you find out the owner of the stall isn’t Korean. Would you still give it a chance, or just assume that the food wouldn’t be any good? That was exactly what happened to Bernard Tay, the founder of Jinjja Chicken.
Jinjja Chicken was founded in 2015, and for the last decade, Bernard has laid low, avoiding revealing that Jinjja Chicken is a homegrown brand. He admits that the misconception that Jinjja is a Korean brand is a common one, and in the past, he did not bother to correct people. Even those close to him had the assumption that he had bought the franchise.
Bernard chose to sell Korean fried chicken as he was a big fan of the dish. He recalled an incident where a potential customer asked the cashier if the owner of Jinjja Chicken was Korean. When he was told that the owner was Singaporean, he walked away, saying that the food wouldn’t be good since the owner wasn’t Korean.
“There is a stigma that if you are not South Korean, you can’t cook Korean fried chicken well,” Bernard said. Now that Jinjja Chicken is doing well with 8 outlets locally and about S$10 million in yearly revenue, Bernard is ready to let the public know about the brand’s Singaporean roots. The brand also plans to open outlets in other parts of Asia, such as China, Thailand and Vietnam.
“We are a Singaporean brand and we are also doing well overseas,” said Bernard. “I hope people will support Singaporeans who dare to sell cuisines which are not local.”
