Honey Bun CEO Michelle Chong revealed that plans are afoot for the company to roll out its “retail theatre” business line with the addition of a Swirls outlet in the Corporate Area.

“I am very proud to say we’re about to sign a lease for a new Swirls in the New Kingston plaza. So, Swirls is an off[shoot] of Honey Bun. It’s a retail – what do we call it now – a retail [theatre] where you can see the procedure, the performance,” she told shareholders at the Honey Bun annual general meeting at Courtleigh Hotel & Suites in New Kingston, St Andrew on Wednesday. March 26, 2025.

Swirls is a standalone bakery located in the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre in St Andrew that sells a variety of baked goods and sandwiches made from those baked goods. The first store was located at the corner of Half-Way-Tree Road and Beechwood Avenue, selling pastries including patties.

Previously owned by Herbert and Michelle Chong, who started Honey Bun in 1982, Swirls was acquired by Honey Bun in June 2024.

Consistent with the “retail pastry shop” model of the first location, the new outlet will have a small footprint of 800 square feet. Chong added that although Swirls is a subsidiary of Honey Bun, it will continue to maintain its unique identity.

“With this integration, the company plans to enhance its product portfolio, offering a wider variety of baked goods and meals to meet the growing consumer demand,” Honey Bun shared in a notice on the Jamaica Stock Exchange website.

Another notice outlined, “The future investment in the fast food business, including new shops and equipment in strategic locations, can be estimated at J$50 [million] – J$100 [million] over the next two to three years.”

Michelle Chong told shareholders that the second outlet at the New Kingston Business Centre will kick-start the “build-out” of the multiple-location retail pastry shop.

“We’re going to report each year how many stores we plan to build out. So we’re building out first locally in Jamaica. We have interest from other islands as well, but this is where we will start,” the CEO informed shareholders.

Following the AGM, she informed Our Today that the Honey Bun team plans to expand the Swirls business through franchising.

“Eventually, after we establish a few, maybe three or four in Jamaica, we will be franchising,” Chong said, adding that the company is prospecting Papine, St Andrew; Montego Bay, St James; and May Pen, Clarendon.

“So as long as we can find suitable outlets, we will be moving because we have structured the model now so that we can expand it…Very much like the Cinnabon concept in the [United] States,” she continued.

When asked about expanding Swirls in the Caribbean and where there was interest, Chong said she’s prefer not to share, pointing out that the priority was the Jamaican market.