Japan’s Butter Butler opens 1st store in the Philippines; Japanese brand ambassador shares success secrets
MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos are not the only ones who have the custom of giving “pasalubong.”
The Japanese, according to Bryan Tiu, President and Chief Executive Officer of iFoods Inc., have the tradition called “Omiyage” wherein travelers bring gifts and souvenirs back from their destination to friends, family, and colleagues.
Apart from “pasalubong” and “Omiyage,” both Filipinos and Japanese love good food, which is why last month, Butter Butler, a Japanese food brand that originated from Tokyo, opened its first store outside Japan in the Philippines, at the R2 Level of Rockwell, Powerplant Mall in Makati City.
Tiu, whose company brought Butter Butler to the Philippines, said the brand “is the perfect Omiyage” because of its butter-focused delicacies, including the bestsellers Butter Financier (made with a special blend of two kinds of European fermented butter and a touch of French sun-dried Guérande salt) and Butter Galette (classic French pastry elevated with European fermented butter and French sun-dried Guérande salt).
Exclusive to the brand’s so far one and only Manila store is Butter Croffle, a blend of the best of both worlds: the crispy, buttery exterior of a croissant and the soft, fluffy interior of a waffle.
“Our goal is to elevate the dessert experience by making butter the star of the show, and we believe we’ve achieved that with our delectable offerings,” Tiu affirmed in a statement.
“Eight years ago, we created the (brand) in Japan because there’s a lack in butter supply, so that's why we want our customers to enjoy the butter sweets more,” Tatsuhito Osabe, also known as Butter Butler or Brand Ambassador of the brand from which the brand got its logo inspiration, told Philstar.com in an interview.
“What makes it different from others is the butter we source from all over the world, so we selected the butter like what is a good butter for each item,” he explained. “So for example, we use the fermented butter from Europe and the reason why we use the fermented butter is because after baking, the smell is much richer rather than using other butters.”
According to him, among the things that make the brand successful are being very careful in selecting the location of their stores and being true to their mission to tell the brand’s story.
“We need to bring the story to the customer and then also, we want the customer to enjoy our product… that mindset is very important for us.”
