At The Good Cake, a small bakery in Hong Kong, founder Karen Chu combines her love for baking with a powerful mission: to support the city’s underprivileged elderly. Surrounded by freshly baked goodies like chocolate brownies, rice crispy cakes, and decadent Swiss meringue buttercream-topped chocolate cakes, Chu creates not only delicious treats but also opportunities to give back. A portion of the proceeds from her baked goods goes directly towards buying rice for Hong Kong’s elderly in need, turning her passion into purpose.
Since launching The Good Cake in 2019, Chu has baked over 1,500 cakes, 8,000 cupcakes, and 40,000 cookies, which have provided over 65,000 meals for the elderly. For Chu, food is more than sustenance—it’s a way to connect and give back to the community, especially to those most vulnerable. “Many people don’t realize that one in 2.5 elderly in Hong Kong lives in poverty,” she explains, referencing her own close relationship with her grandparents growing up, who helped shape her compassion for the older generation.
Inspired by her grandparents’ resilience and the stories of struggle from elderly individuals in Hong Kong, Chu founded The Good Cake as a way to merge her love of baking with her desire to help others. Her signature creations include cakes like blueberry with lemonade Swiss meringue buttercream, brown butter milk tea cake with strawberries, and seasonal summer garden cakes with fresh homemade jams.
Wedding cakes are also a significant part of her business, along with cupcakes, cookies, and loaf cakes that can be ordered online. Despite being a one-woman operation, Chu finds time to volunteer with organizations such as YWAM Tuen Mun, a nonprofit that supports the elderly living in public housing estates. Through her partnership, Chu provides rice that is distributed to about 100 elderly residents each week.
For Chu, the challenges facing the elderly—hunger, isolation, and a lack of resources—are often overlooked in fast-paced, modern Hong Kong. She hopes her bakery can help raise awareness and make a tangible difference.
Her dream is to eventually own her own kitchen space, where she can expand her baking operation and hire elderly workers. “I want to build a community where young and old can coexist and do good together,” Chu says, reflecting her vision of creating meaningful change, one cake at a time.
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