Wholesome Treats: Xin Yi’s Story

 

After working in a bank for 4 years, Xin Yi decided to get out of the daily grind and made the switch from banking to baking.

 

Today she runs a successful home-based and online-operated bakery called Wholesome Treats, which offers options for gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and regular butter-based baked goods.

 

Wholesome Treats has been operating for over 3 years now.

 

 

 

Xin Yi took a leap of faith when the bank posted her to Cambodia for a  6-month stint.   As things were slow there, she found time to reflect deeply on what she really wanted to do.

 

She says that while she enjoyed working in the bank which offered her job security and vast learning experience,  she wasn’t sure that was how she wanted her life to be like for the next 10 years.

 

“One thing I was certain – I didn’t enjoy the rat race, and I wanted to do something more tangible that I could derive joy from,” says Xin Yi.

 

“My mum bakes a lot during her leisure time for our family when I was younger, and I developed an interest for baking from that.

 

“I started to bake for my family during university days, when I had more room and time to explore on my own. I found myself falling back to baking over the weekends when I was in the corporate world, just to find some peace and joy,” she says.

 

“I toyed with the idea of starting something of my own – simply because I was young and had nothing to lose. I bounced the idea to my close friends and they were really supportive.

 

“It took me a while to convince my parents — as like all well-meaning parents —  job security was a major concern.  However,  my family believed in me and have remained my pillar of strength until today – and for that I’m super grateful to them.

 

“I resigned and gave my all to starting this new venture the moment I got back from Cambodia,” she adds.

 

 

 

 

 

Why Inclusive Baking?

 

Xin Yi always had a liking for gluten-free and vegan food during her university days, so she decided to incorporate this concept into her baking. There is also an increasing trend among consumers for healthy cake recipes.

 

“I wanted an all-inclusive product offering that could cater to people of different dietary requirements – be it whether they’re gluten-intolerant, lactose-intolerant, diabetic and looking for some sugar-free baked goods or those who are just looking for a regular classic butter cake,” she explains.

 

Wholesome Treats’ Future Plans

 

“Currently, I’m operating from a home kitchen. I’ve had it in my mind to have a central kitchen of my own so I could navigate better and have a more comfortable workspace, but that’s for the far future ahead.

 

“For the not-so-distant future, I’m looking at product expansion, such as doing more bake sales (having a mix of sliced cakes, ice cream and cookies) in the months to come as bake sales have received good response when I did it a few times last year. I definitely will be testing out more new products this new year!

 

 

Collaboration with Modern Essentials

 

The recent collaboration with Modern Essentials where Wholesome Treats gave out NINEWARE Rabbit Bowls to the first 15 customers who bought 5 tubs of cookies and above, was well-received by Xin Yi’s customers.

 

This is the link to the collaboration story, Happy Niu Year,  and the story of Modern Essentials.

 

“My customers really liked the Rabbit bowls and some even asked about it well after the promo has ended.  Some of my customers also asked if there were any bowls with ox “ears” since this is the Year of the Ox.

 

“Going by the overwhelming response, I’m certainly looking forward to collaborate with Modern Essentials again as cute tableware always complements food, cakes and cookies,” she says.