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Published on January 2, 2008

 It means constantly monitoring what the competition is selling, keeping up with food news in several magazines and tracking major health trends. And then there's his ongoing research to dig up dishes delicious enough to become best sellers.

"Follow the trends. I have to keep that in mind," says Retlev who has been working for Au Bon Pain since 2004. Before that, the Swede co-founded a soup-manufacturing company, Cooks & Butler, in the US and later worked on soup flavours at Blount Seafood.

With Au Bon Pain opening more and more outlets in Asia, Retlev recently set down in Bangkok on a tour  of the continent's cities to learn more about his customers' tastes. Au Bon Pain first arrived in Thailand in 1997, refusing to be scared off by the financial crisis that hit that year.

The chain will open its first two branches in Japan next month and hopes to have extended its reach to 300 branches in Asia within a few years. The company also plans to expand to Kuwait and Turkey soon.

During his stay in town, Retlev noted that Thais, unlike Westerners, tend to steer away from soups with a mix of savoury, fruit and sweet flavours. So to attract more local customers, new soups designed to make Thai taste buds sing will be introduced. On the menu will be Mexican tortilla soup, black-bean soup, beef chilli and more tomato-based soups.

Retlev realises that there is fierce competition among cafes in Thailand. But he takes it as a positive development, a sign that Thais are ready for a cafe culture, having welcomed a plethora of different coffee chains over the past decade.

But unlike other coffee chains that often focus on brews alone, he's trying to popularise Au Bon Pain as a place for good coffee and baked goods plus sandwiches. Adaptation and localisation is the key, he says, and this means marrying Western flavours with Asian ones.

However, realising that the tastes of his US customers are getting more and more cosmopolitan in this globalised age, Retlev has introduced regional or ethnic flavours in outlets there. Portuguese kale soup - a traditional dish among the Portuguese of New England, the birthplace of Au Bon Pain - has been added to many menus and been well received. Other regional tastes include Thai coconut curry soup and Jamaican black-bean soup. And for health-conscious patrons, brown rice has recently been introduced in some outlets stateside.

In Thailand, broccoli and cheddar soup has been turned into cream of broccoli, as Thais aren't too keen on cheeses in general, and not in soups in particular. And while Americans like brown bread with lots of grains, Thais prefer soft, white bread. We have to mix and match the flavours to our customers' tastes, says Retlev.

However, the ultimate target for Retlev is to make the healthiest, tastiest food possible. Au Bon Pain is focusing on health trends. Since 2003, Retlev says, the amount of sodium they use in their products has been gradually falling. And while the rest of the world is still discussing the danger of trans-fats, the company has forged ahead in making their products trans-fat-free worldwide.

Despite the new-found taste for rice in the US, Au Bon Pain Thailand's general manager Wipa Boonpalit  insists that branches under his care won't be following suit and transforming into restaurants. "The Americans are excited about rice but it's our staple," he points out.

So it seems that the cafe chain's sole focus in Thailand is to offer sweet and savoury treats to tease the palates of Thais and expats alike. Au Bon Pain now has 36 branches nationwide and is preparing open three more outlets very soon.

Sirinya Wattanasukchai

 The Nation