Hong Kong's most successful baker dies

The man behind one of Hong Kong's most successful companies, the Garden Bakery, has died.

Cheung Tze-fong, who was born in 1912, died peacefully at his home last Thursday, according to his family.

A self-made man with a knack for spotting opportunities and capitalising on them, Cheung came to Hong Kong from Singapore in 1926 as an ambitious teenager. No sooner had he found work in a furniture shop with his brother-in-law, surnamed Wong, than he began to notice the westernisation of the local appetite.

It was over successive break periods spent in the Botanical Gardens - for which his company was named - that he managed to persuade his brother-in-law to become his partner in a baking venture, renting a shop in Shamshuipo and selling cookies. They were an immediate hit.

Under Cheung's stewardship, Garden built a reputation for innovation and adaptation, successfully anticipating market trends. Its Life Bread has been a staple of many households for 40 years.

Despite war, three destructive fires and the entry of foreign brands, Garden continues to dominate the local market. It is enjoying similar success on the mainland.