YOU can always trust Christina Ong to do things with style. She's done it with fashion (Club 21), wellness (through COMO Shambhala), hotels (COMO Hotels and Resorts), and it's the same with her latest project, SuperNature - a high-end organic store that the COMO group acquired earlier this year. Besides offering one of the most comprehensive ranges of organic produce, she's since gone on to open the first free-standing Duchy Originals store in the world.
Perhaps best described as an organic cookie company started by England's Prince Charles, Duchy Originals is a project created by the environmentally conscious royal to make high-quality organic products while helping to protect and sustain the countryside and wildlife. What profit Duchy Originals makes is donated to charity, rather than for commercial gain. For consumers, what this means is premium cookies, cakes, jams and other products made from pure and natural ingredients with no preservatives. Which also taste really good.
Oddly enough, Duchy Originals doesn't even have a free standing shop in the UK, although its products are widely available in stores there. So, after the Singapore outlet (which opened on Thursday in Paragon's basement level), Mrs Ong will open the first free-standing outlet in London in the first quarter of next year. This will be followed by other outlets in the region, as the company is the only official licensed distributor in Asia.
If you've already sampled Duchy Original's buttery lemon or orange cookies, you know this rather pricey (about $8-$9 a box) confection is a treat. They're also hard to find, usually popping up once in a while in gourmet shops or supermarkets but in an extremely limited range. But at the newly opened outlet in Paragon's basement, you'll discover a treasure trove of cookies (sweet and savoury), chocolates, jams, teas, oils, vinegars, puddings and drinks.
In the run up to the Christmas season, Chen Pennefather, director of SuperNature and Duchy Originals, says that orders are already coming in fast and furious for mince pies and Christmas cakes which she has had flown from London. And if you're a Christmas pudding fan, Duchy's version recently was voted top in the UK's Good Housekeeping magazine in a taste test a few weeks ago.
As for other bestsellers, check out the cookies, strawberry jam and the savoury 'oaten' biscuits. The lemon curd is also a bestseller, says Ms Pennefather, who suggests mixing the lemon curd with yoghurt and raspberries for a delicious alternative to cheesecake.
One thing's for sure. The sleek white store will be a hotbed of hamper activity during the Christmas gift season. The good thing is that your gift recipient will be enjoying good old-fashioned organic goodness while you can be assured that some of what you're spending is going to a good cause back in the UK.
