Today we’d like to introduce you to Nhon Ma.
The story starts with Nhon, a Belgium native who grew up immersed in the food and the restaurant business. Both of his parents owned a world-renowned restaurant in Belgium, while his mother was the only female Asian chef to attain the coveted Michelin Star Award. Nhon grew up taste testing the food and working alongside his parents. He became friends with Bertrand Lempkowicz while at school in Brussels. They bonded while feasting on Belgian waffles after classes.
Later, while traveling in the US, they discovered that there were no authentic Belgian waffles sold there. All “Belgian waffles” were different from what they’d known from their childhood. Some were fuzzy imitations, others not even close to the original. These two boys missed their waffles!
Those two boys are now men… Both had spent many years working successfully in the business world, but due to their ongoing passion and affinity for waffles, they quickly traded their old jobs for a new endeavor! They decided to take the waffle problem in the United States into their own hands. Their solution was to pack up their cast irons for the U.S and start baking authentic Liege-style waffles the way they are supposed to be!
Nhon works like he did in his boyhood as the foodie searching for the perfect recipe, while Bertrand handles the creative side of things.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
At Zinneken’s, you will not find a more Belgian waffle outside of Europe. The owners are Belgian, the recipe is Belgian, the sugar is Belgian, the waffle iron is Belgian, even the fork used for waffle extraction is Belgian.
One of the most important challenge about our product was its perception in the United States.
Our waffles are very different from the U.S. Belgian waffle that most people are familiar with and that was the main reason that we had decided originally to not brand the Zinneken’s waffles as “Belgian waffles”. The majority of our customers have never had the opportunity to visit Belgium. A place famous for its beer, chocolate, mussels and …. waffles. We knew it would confuse our initial local customers (who were considering the Belgian waffle as a crispy waffle that is eaten for breakfast on the weekends for brunch).
After a few years building our reputation, we considered highlighting again the “Belgian” character of Zinneken’s and we added the motto “Belgian waffles made by actual Belgians” to our brand a few years later.
Like any other small businesses opening in the Harvard square area, we faced many challenges. Increasing rent and labor cost, demanding customers who desire the best quality at the best value. Beginning of the operations have been harsh and margins were small. We kept the quality high so that our customers are pleased with what they are paying for. As an example, we use fresh berries all year round and we know that berries can get very expensive during winter time. We keep the same price structure all-year round despite the high-quality ingredients we are using. The authentic Belgian chocolate that we buy and use for our toppings is about 5 to 10 times more expensive. Our coffee is 10 to 25 times more expensive than our competitors. We are proud that we never had to trade quality and authenticity over profit.
We also had to adapt to the market. Some customers see us as an upscale bakery but that was not our initial intent to convey this image of luxury pastries. In Belgium, the Liege waffle is a street food and, most of the time, served plain. We had to study customers habits in the U.S. to realize that they want to eat their waffle while seated.
Now our Harvard square location is suffering because of the lack of seats in our tiny bakery but on the other hand, we have a pretty high turnover.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The company started its operations in September 2011 in Harvard square with a small retail location. I have personally been involved in the general management of the company but also its operations.
A few years later, we’ve launched a waffle truck roaming the streets of Boston.
After four years of operations, I have delegated some operational responsibilities to our managers in order to dedicate more time to the development of the company. Today, Zinneken’s waffles is also involved in b2b waffles distribution and franchising.
I think what makes Zinneken’s waffle unique is:
1. We are focused. I think that what we’re the most proud of is that we didn’t deviate from our original vision. We are not interested in becoming a “jack of all trades”. Our focus is and will always be to cater or distribute quality Belgian waffles.
2. By referral only. When it comes to our distribution business, ninety percent of our business customers contacted us directly or through referrals. We do not advertise our distribution at all, we let other business owners do their own market research and when they decide to contact us, this means that they already know the product and studied it. It is also important to note that the majority of our business customers in the United States are Belgians or of Belgian descent. Most of they grew up with the authentic Liege waffle and that means a lot to us.
3. We believe in our concept and we know we can’t please everyone. I could say today that we are on average enjoying a 95% satisfaction rate from our bakery visitors. It hasn’t been always like this, especially at the beginning where we tried to fine-tune every aspect of the business. We’ve worked hard and listen to every customers complaint.
Today, we are not trying to be all things to all people. Rather than saying to our customers “yes, we’ll do that” to everything, we’re saying “we’re probably not the right business for you”. Our business model is very simple. We focus on authentic high quality and affordable sweet Belgian waffles. As a result, it doesn’t appeal to everyone, but we’re okay with that. As long as Zinneken’s matters to our ideal customer, that’s all that counts.
Our waffles distribution business has been growing very fast recently. I think what really set us apart from other companies is that we truly care about our business customers. We are passionate about the product and our goal is to have everybody in the US try an authentic Belgian waffle. As we are a small company and can’t expand ourselves through company-owned retail location, the only way we can achieve this is through other businesses or franchises.
What were you like growing up?
I drop out of school when I was 16 to attend the professional tennis academy Nick Bolletieri in Florida where I used to hit the ball 8 hours a day. I quit playing tennis to pass the Belgian academic program “Jury central” in one academic year instead of the average three years. Graduated from business school and worked as product manager for corporations in the international finance and telecoms. I traveled a lot in comparison to the other kids of my age and been exposed to different cultures.
Always been playing video games even though I have less and less time for it (I was proud owner of Atari, commodore64, amiga2000, PC 3.86 etc.). I was one of the first person in Belgium to get a broadband connection after my parents were tired of paying for my dial-up phone connections for online playing. Ranked in the top 10 worldwide at Resident Evil 5 which took a toll on my ex-fiancée relationship.
I am a big fan of snowboarding, golfing and exotic cars but had to put a lot of hobbies on side because of the entrepreneurship life
Contact Info:
- Address: 1154 Massachusetts Avenue
- Website: www.zinnekenswaffles.com
- Phone: 6178760836
- Email: info@zinnekens.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zinnekenswaffles/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/zinnekens
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/zinnekens
- Other: http://zinnetruck.com/
Image Credit:
Zinneken’s
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