As an actress, Jeanette Aw needs no introduction to most Singaporeans thanks to her numerous roles in acclaimed dramas such as ‘The Little Nyonya’.
However, she’s also an accomplished baker and businesswoman, launching her own patisserie brand Once Upon a Time in 2021.
Recently, the brand achieved a new milestone when it debuted with a pop-up booth at a chocolate fair in Japan.
Source: @jeanetteaw on Instagram
It was met with resounding success as the booth sold out on opening day itself.
On Thursday (18 Jan), Jeanette shared a video on Instagram giving fans a glimpse into Once Upon A Time’s Japan debut.
The clip shows the 44-year-old walking into the JR Nagoya Takashimaya department store, where her booth is located.
Once Upon A Time is there as part of a 28-day chocolate fair called Amour du Chocolat, according to The Straits Times (ST).
Billed as the largest Valentine’s Day chocolate event in Japan, the fair unites brands from all over the world at various locations throughout the country.
The hype for Once Upon A Time was apparent as shoppers were seen forming long lines in Jeanette’s video.
Source: @jeanetteaw on Instagram
Business was clearly brisk, and Jeanette even autographed some of the boxes as well as snapped pictures with customers.
The video concluded with Jeanette putting out a ‘Sold Out’ sign, thus ending Once Upon A Time’s first day in Japan on a high note.
In her caption, she expressed how grateful she was, calling it a “humbling experience”.
Back in September last year, Jeanette told Shin Min Daily News that she would be creating pastries exclusive to Japan.
While Once Upon A Time specialises in pastries of all kinds, she chose to focus on chocolate offerings in the spirit of the festival.
This, coupled with the fact that Valentine’s Day is a particularly significant event in Japan, led Jeanette to develop recipes specially for the market there.
In a separate interview with 8days.sg, Jeanette revealed that she had come out with bonbons as well as new flavours of the fan-favourite WTF (What the Fudge) brownies.
During the process, she worked closely with a Japanese pastry chef. She would develop the recipe before sending it to Japan together with the final product.
From there, the chef would work on replicating it to realise her vision as closely as possible. Jeanette herself made multiple flights to Japan for taste tests.
According to Once Upon A Time’s Instagram post, the bonbons come in four delectable flavours: Dark Chocolate, Coffee, Yuzu Passionfruit, and Mango.
Source: @onceuponatime.sg on Instagram
Apart from the standard chocolate variant, the What the Fudge brownies are also available in Orange exclusively for Japanese customers.
Ever the tireless entrepreneur, Jeanette then travelled to Osaka for the next stop of her chocolate pop-up booth.
In an Instagram post she shared earlier today (19 Jan), she declared that she was “ready for Osaka”, adding that she would be on the ninth floor of Hankyu Umeda.
Source: @jeanetteaw on Instagram
Prior to that, she had shared a reel of her journey towards Osaka on the Shinkansen bullet train, where she refuelled with a bento and a bun.
After Osaka, Jeanette will head straight to her final stop in Seibu, a department store in Tokyo.
The event is a culmination of two years of hard work, as shared by Jeanette in an expired Instagram Story.
Noting that there were challenges along the way, she implied relief at being able to finally launch in Nagoya.
She also revealed that putting up the ‘Sold Out’ sign on day one meant a lot to her and even made her a “little emotional”.
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Featured images adapted from @jeanetteaw on Instagram.
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