Tastemakers: Former meat lover turns school canteen stall into $21 million vegetarian chain
Mr Fu Yong Hong, co-founder and chief executive of vegetarian chain Greendot, struggled to find wallet-friendly meatless meals as a student. ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
SINGAPORE – At 22, Mr Fu Yong Hong opened a vegetarian stall – despite hating vegetables. Today, he helms Singapore's biggest plant-based restaurant chain.
Now 36, he is chief executive of Greendot Group, which pulls in an annual turnover of $21 million from 15 outlets, including Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant. The group will open a 16th eatery – a Greendot outlet – at The Star Vista in July.
Mr Fu co-founded the business in 2011 with his secondary school friend, Mr Justin Chou. At the time, Mr Fu was in his second year studying business at National University of Singapore and still a staunch meat lover.
Mr Chou, a lifelong vegetarian who struggled to find wallet-friendly meatless meals as a student, proposed they tap his family's resources and set up a vegetarian food sta ll. His mother, Ms Rebecca Lee, 64, ran Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant and his family owns a vegetarian food manufacturing facility in Johor.
Though he hated greens, Mr Fu was eager to test his classroom theories on real-world business. He agreed to the partnership – on one condition: 'We shouldn't limit ourselves to just vegetarian customers. I want to target non-vegetarians too.'
Hands-on experience
To win their parents' support and learn the ropes, the two worked part-time for a year in 2010 at Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant, which opened in 2003.
They started with the basics – slicing vegetables and packing dishes – then moved on to running live stations for vegetarian laksa and chicken rice, and setting up buffet lines for catering orders.
It was Ms Lee who told them to start small: one school canteen stall. She developed a pared-down menu of restaurant-quality dishes for a canteen setting.
In December 2011, the pair pooled $20,000 with a third partner to launch Greendot at the canteen of Temasek Polytechnic's School of Design. The two of them cooked everythin g, using ingredients and sauces from the vegetarian food factor y M r Chou's family owned. They hired a full-time cook when they opened a third outlet.
At the time, Mr Fu did not eat vegetables. 'If a burger had lettuce, I would remove it. If noodles had bean sprouts, I would pick them ou t. '
The first three months were rough. 'The neighbouring stalls told me the brinjal I cooked was too hard and tasted raw,' he says. 'I tasted it, a nd threw it out immediately. I felt very embarrassed.'
But he focused on sharpening his cooking skills. By 2012, they ha d outlets at Raffles Girls' School and his alma mater, Chung Cheng High School (Main), where he was stationed full-time.
There, tastin g v egetarian dishes became a daily routine. 'That changed my mind. I started enjoying what I was making,' he says.
Still, his love for meat prevailed. Early menus leaned towards Western fare – burgers and fries – but feedback was clear. 'Justin's mother told us locals don't eat fast food daily,' Mr Fu says.
Greendot adapted. It added rice sets and noodle dishes – hearty fare that drew longer queues tha n t he chicken rice and Western food stalls. The new staples accounted for 70 per cent of the company's revenue. It also had a range of vegetarian cooked dishes which customers could select for their b entos.
To appeal to non-vegetarians, the team avoided overt vegetarian branding. 'We don't use the Chinese characters for vegetarian or name dishes things like 'vegetarian chicken rice',' he says. 'We call it what it is – crispy beancurd skin with sesame rice.'
They also distanced themselves from fear-based messaging, such as making people feel guilty about eating meat because of animal cruelty, and did not associate their brand of vegetarianism with religious practices.
'We didn't want to make people feel guilty with posters about religion or animal cruelty. We told customers, 'Eat green, feel good.''
Despite packed lines, Greendot ran losses for the first two years. Ingredients cost as much as 50 per cent of revenue. In 2013, the third partner exited the business.
But the duo pressed on. In December that year, they opened their first mall outlet at Bedok Mall – a 20-seat kiosk that marked the brand's transformation into a fast-casual chain.
Mr Fu, who was in his final year at university, used the example of his business transitioning from canteen stall to mall outlet as a school project, which he passed with flying colours.
Early struggles
Greendot's pivot to fast-casual was born out of necessity and ambition. School canteens were viable only for about eight months a year. Exam periods and school holidays meant months of red ink. 'We couldn't keep the staff. We needed something sustainable,' Mr Fu says.
Renting a kiosk at a mall – with air-conditioning, better work conditions and constant footfall – made sense. 'We wanted to attract the p ublic. We had to move beyond the vegetarian niche.'
The team replaced the economy rice format wit h b entos and set meals, each featuring premium ingredients such as Signature Lion's Mane Mushroom Rendang with Turmeric Basmati Rice ($10.90).
Signature Lion Mane Mushroom Rendang With Turmeric Rice at vegetarian chain Greendot.
ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
Customers who once turned up their noses at vegetarian food started returning three to five times a week.
But Mr Fu – who had by then graduated with a business administration degree – was working 17-hour days, with little to show for it. He felt demoralised paying himself $1,200 a month, while his peers in other jobs were earning twice as much or more.
His social life was in shambles. Friends had stopped asking him out because he was always working. But with 15 employees across the three canteen stalls and Bedok Mall outlet, he felt he could not let them down.
His parents were supportive. His father, aged 70, is a retired operations manager at a toy wholesaler. His mother, 67, still works as a human resources and finance manager.
'My parents felt I should learn to endure hardship and find my own way. But my friends thought it strange for a carnivore like me to sell vegetarian fare. I did not even like cooking before. I used to eat only fried food and meat.'
In December 2014, Greendot opened its flagship outlet at Paya Lebar Square, a 1,900 sq ft unit with 70 seats. The duo poured $350,000 into setting it up and hired a consultant to rebrand the business. Believing in the venture, both founders' families came on board as investors.
Prices remained accessible – the average spend is $12 to $15 a head – with complimentary soup refills and dishes plated with care. Recipes and sauces are prepared at a central kitchen to ensure consistency.
Popular items then and now include Laksa Noodles ($9.50) and Curry Mayo Konnyaku Burger ($14.90).
Curry Mayo Konnyaku Burger at vegetarian chain Greendot.
ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
The vegetarian prawns in the laksa, made with konnyaku, are so springy that first-time diners sometimes question if they are really plant-based. Some mistake the sambal's soya mince for hae bee (dried prawn).
Laksa Noodles at vegetarian chain Greendot.
ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
In 2014, they shuttered their school stalls and expanded into malls – Westgate, One Raffles Place, Nex, VivoCity and Northpoint City. A fast-casual chain had taken root. Outlets at Westgate, Star Vista, Nex and Northpoint City, earlier owned by franchisees, were re-acquired by Greendot Group in 2021.
Still, not every move was a win. In 2016, Greendot introduced Taiwanese shaved ice desserts under the Smoothie House brand, which it bought as a franchise for nearly $1 million. These were served at kiosks located at their outlets at Westgate, One Raffles Place and Paya Lebar Square.
'We had borrowed heavily from our parents and the bank to supplement cash flow,' Mr Fu says. But it failed to turn a profit, leaving them saddled with debts till 2023.
Personal reset
In 2018, Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant merged with Greendot, with Mr Fu as chief executive.
But he was emotionally drained from working 12-hour days. His girlfriend of two years had left him in 2017 for not having time for anything apart from work. With his monthly salary of $5,000, he was still earning less than his corporate peers.
'My phone was constantly ringing. Staff from outlets were asking about blown bulbs, broken brooms, leaking taps. I was fire-fighting every day,' he says. 'There was a big problem with the way I was managin g.'
Then Mr Chou, who was a director at Greendot, staged an intervention. He booked Mr Fu a session with a personal trainer and dragged him to the gym.
'Justin told me I always take care of staff, customers and the company – but I didn't love myself,' Mr Fu says.
Exercis e improved his mood and focus. He started reading business books and listening to Buddhist talks on YouTube. He learnt to delegate and empowered staff to solve day-to-day problems. 'I became a happier person,' he says.
Mr Fu Yong Hong found a renewed purpose and zeal for his business after his business partner staged an intervention.
ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
He also read up on a plant-based lifestyle to understand its rationale.
In 2019, he became vegetarian. 'I finally aligned with the meaning and purpose of my business. I no longer saw Greendot just as a business. It became a mission.'
Renewed mission
That year, Greendot began upgrading the aesthetics of its outlets. Previously, wooden panels and furniture featured heavily, with some walls painted in lime green. These were replaced with sleeker furniture in white and beige, and feature walls in pastel green.
In 2021, changed its logo and rebranded to keep pace with changing tastes. It came up with a new tagline, going from 'Eat Green, Feel Good' to 'Sharing Goodness'.
New dishes – such as Crunchy Fillet Wrap ($9.90), made with konnyaku fish fingers and tartar sauce – were introduced. Well-priced vegetarian bao ($3.60 to $5.50) and oat milk lattes ($3.90) drew steady traffic.
Greendot underwent a rebranding exercise in 2021 to keep up with the market.
ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
All staff now get to see the financials of the outlets they work at and receive 10 per cent of profits – a move that boosted morale.
In early 2021, Mr Fu met his wife, a private banking director. They got married in 2022 and now have two daughters, aged two and 10 months.
Greendot is now a 200-staff operation. Mr Fu visits its outlets three times a week. 'I eat there to stay in touch with what customers experience. I know most of the employees.'
The chain introduces new items every two months. A recent launch – Specialty Sauce Mee Pok Yong Tau Foo ($11.90) – runs until the end of June. He says: 'We're a platform to help people understand their diet options earlier in life and make better choices.
'The challenge for fast-casual is cost control. You cannot keep raising prices. But in a downturn, people want value, and we can offer that.'
He hopes to have up to 20 outlets in Singapore eventually and expand to Malaysia in the next two years.
His long-term ambition? 'To build Greendot into a world-class organisation that helps people take care of their health through plant-based meals.'
Tastemakers is a personality profile series on food and beverage vendors who are creating a stir.
Hedy Khoo is senior correspondent at The Straits Times. She covers food-related news, from reviews to human interest stories.
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