Who’s copying whom?
After a long talk with my brother on the phone, we learnt that there are Breadtalk stores in Singapore, Indonesia, China and even in Kuwait. So I did a search on google for Breadtalk singapore and it turned out that the Breadtalk opened a few years before Breadtop opened in Melbounre and there are striking similarities between the two bread stores and its corresponding websites. Bahgae, Lancerlord and other bloggers in the south east Asian region have also noticed the Breadtop/Breadtalk resemblance. They also mention other clones such as Bread history and Bread Story, although Bread story appear to look differently from Breadtalk/Breadtop.
Its difficult to figure out who is copying whom, but I think that the whole idea was originally from the owner of Breadtalk in Singapore, which first opened in 200o and has expanded its market to other parts of Asia.
Despite the cloning and the stealing of ideas around the world, Breadtop in Melbourne appears successful. There are already 6 stores in Metropolitan Melbourne and it won’t be long till stores open in Glen Waverley, Richmond or even in other capital cities around Australia. That’s my prediction, but who knows?
The real downside to Breadtop though is its lack of originality and its overpricing. If it wasn’t that, I’d be purchasing my daily bread from there.