Brand Builder Eugene Chan redefines how Asian brands reach International audiences 擴建餐飲文化版圖 • 陳汝軒
ENGLISH 英 : deirdre Kelly • CHINESE 中 : 文禮
Location: % Arabica Yorkdale, Accencis Group Headquarter
Photography: Carol Wang Photography • Assistant: Claudia Hung
Art Direction: Deborah Lau-Yu • Videography: Fête Chinoise Team
Fashion & Styling: Lisa Fang • MAKEUP & HAIR: Kelly Wong
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Amo Khambule, Victor Lee
As Featured in Annual Book of Incredible People Edition No. 11: The next Chapter
As a child, Eugene Chan spent Saturday nights wedged between relatives and neighbours in bustling Chinese restaurants north of Toronto, plates clattering, chopsticks flashing, laughter cresting above the din. Yet, even in the warmth of community, he noticed an absence. “Why,” he wondered, “are these places always full, but never with a single westerner?” The question lingered for years. It’s now the driving force behind Accencis Group, the company Chan founded to help Asian-led brands break new ground, connecting with audiences across Canada and into new markets.
“Why are these places always full, but never with a single westerner?”
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The cultural divide Chan noticed early on shaped his perspective. Born in 1992 and raised in Richmond Hill, Ontario, he spent his teenage years shuttling between Toronto and Hong Kong, an experience that sharpened his eye for market gaps and cultural bridges. This bicultural fluency became his business foundation, teaching him to spot opportunities others missed and to think strategically about bringing unfamiliar concepts to new audiences.
在這個講求速度與效率的時代，我們更需要提醒自己文化的重量與溫度。 Eugene Chan （陳汝軒）就是這樣的一位築夢者。
他不只是一位年青企業家，更是連繫文化的橋樑；以亞洲味道為線、品牌連鎖為結，串連起一代又一代移民的故事與身份，把文化從餐桌帶上世界舞台。他創辦的 Accencis Group，引入或聯營多個品牌，包括日系精品咖啡 % Arabica、日式拉麵 Midori、越南菜 Dear Saigon、傳統粵菜聚龍軒、網紅泰菜 Susu Siam，並夥拍星級名廚 Keith Pears 開創新派亞洲精品餐廳 Glass Kitchen 及 Pears 等。
Eugene 用行動告訴我們：我們的文化，不但值得被尊重、被看見、被傳承，更值得被重新定義。
Chan’s entrepreneurial instincts surfaced in 2015, when he opened The Captain’s Boil in Toronto. The restaurant introduced a new kind of communal dining to the city: platters of shellfish, corn and potatoes, all simmered in proprietary sauces inspired by Asian flavours, then poured straight onto paper-covered tables for groups to share. The concept was unfamiliar to many in Toronto and quickly caught on, growing into a national chain through franchising.
Beyond business success, it proved that a dining experience rooted in Asian traditions could draw people from all backgrounds – something Chan hadn’t seen in the restaurants of his childhood. Seeing this response changed his sense of what was possible for Asian brands in Canada. He began to wonder: what if he could bring even more of Asia’s most dynamic brands from cities such as Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok and Shenzhen to Canadian streets?
以餐廳寫下文化新篇
Eugene 出生於加拿大，在列治文山長大。中學時曾回流香港就學，後來回到加拿大入讀滑鐵盧大學。「從小我便跟隨父親出入會議室。看着他談判、分析、『傾 deal』。他希望我接班，但我想走自己的路。」Eugene 選擇用創業的方式延續家族精神，把父親的企業思維轉化為文化使命。
2015 年，他創立第一個品牌 The Captain’s Boil， 把美式海鮮煮意結合亞洲風味，這種全新的餐飲體驗迅速在多倫多掀起熱潮，迅速擴展至二十多間分店，並成功售予私募基金。這是屬於他、也屬於第二代華人的起點。
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In 2017, partly to answer that question, Chan launched Accencis, a brand accelerator now home to 16 brands and 76 locations, with plans to surpass 115 outlets and reach $100-million in Chain-wide Revenue by next year. He coined the name by blending “accelerate” and “consensus,” creating a word that captures his drive to move brands forward through collaboration.
“Our goal is to accelerate Asian brands and bring them into the mainstream,” Chan explains. “The overall marketing has to be different. My vision is to connect Asian business concepts to western markets. A lot of people in North America aren’t deeply connected to Asian culture. I’m able to introduce something rarely seen.”
Building on that vision, Chan now looks for international brands that can be adapted for Canadian audiences, even when the concept is unfamiliar. He brought % Arabica, the Japanese coffee brand that originated in Kyoto and now with more than 230 locations worldwide, to Toronto, confident it would thrive in a city known for its specialty coffee scene. The gamble worked.
由 Food Chain 到 Culture Chain
「我從來都不只是想開餐廳，我想築橋——一條連接文化的橋。」
這份初心是他創立 Accencis Group 的原動力。品牌名稱源自 「加速」（accelerate）與「共識」（consensus）的結合，寄望加速亞洲品牌的成長，促進不同文化間的理解與共鳴。
Eugene 觀察到，不少傳統亞洲餐廳以生計為初衷，雖然味道出眾，但因缺乏完善的經營分析與系統管理，以致包裝、裝修簡單，再加上資金與語言限制，難以擴充或打入主流市場。
Eugene 的願景是打造一條不一樣的餐飲供應鏈（food chain）——不僅供應食物，更能串連文化與身份認同的文化鏈（culture chain）。
Cafés filled up, word spread, and soon the brand expanded from Ontario into British Columbia. As Accencis prepares to bring % Arabica to major international markets – including Brazil, Mexico and Sweden – Chan credits brand founder Kenneth Shoji with shaping his understanding of what it means to build a truly distinctive brand.
“The product is coffee, but what he’s really delivering is perfection,” Chan says. “That was different for me. We’re all about efficiency and speed, but he had a very different way of doing things.”
Working with Shoji prompted Chan and his colleagues to slow down and focus on every detail – a shift that wasn’t easy for a team built on rapid expansion. “We had to learn that every coffee matters. It taught us to appreciate the value of perfection, not just productivity. It’s all about learning as we go.”
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從咖啡香開始的文化對話
在 Accencis 旗下眾多品牌中，來自日本京都的精品咖啡 % Arabica 最具代表性。品牌創辦人 Kenneth Shoji 是位完美主義者，堅持每一杯咖啡都要達到極致。「Arabica 教會我不是所有成功都來自速度與效率，有時候，對細節的堅持才最能打動人。」這份對品質的執著，影響整個 Accencis 團隊重新理解「文化價值」的真正含義：不只是營收與流量，更是能否引起共鳴，留下感動。
目前 Accencis 已擁有超過十六個品牌，合計七十六間店舖，遍佈加拿大、美國、墨西哥與巴西，並將擴展至菲律賓與瑞典，預計 2025 年底突破一百一十五間分店，實現一億加元的連鎖總營收
（chain-wide revenue）。Accencis 團隊由約三十多位年輕成員組成，平均年齡介於二十至三十多歲，在距離 Eugene 兒時住所僅五分鐘的總部辦公室共同成長，為每一個品牌注入新的文化靈魂。
Chan now brings that same attention to detail to every partnership.
“There’s a process: feasibility studies, analyzing categories, finding the right demographic and location,” he explains. “Sometimes we create our own concept, sometimes we bring one from overseas. But it always comes down to fit. A business relationship is like a marriage. You have to have open discussions and stay flexible. You have to be able to agree and disagree, share your insights.”
Collaboration is just as important within Accencis, where most employees are in their 20s and 30s, working at the company’s headquarters just five minutes from Chan’s childhood home in Richmond Hill. “We’re all about pushing boundaries and making a difference,” Chan says.
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同行才能走得遠
選擇合作夥伴如同婚姻，不論資金多少，更講求目標一致與價值觀契合。Eugene 對於合作從不妥協。他相信，真正的合作是文化上的同行，而非短期的投資遊戲。
「我不只是想開更多分店，更想擴展 Accencis 的影響力。」他希望透過在不同城市設立 Accencis 辦公室，為品牌夥伴提供在地支援與營運系統，同時打造一個完整的「亞洲文化品牌輸出平台」，讓更多創業者有機會走向全球市場。
「如果你能在多倫多成功，那麼你在世界任何城市都能做得更好。」他深信。
With Toronto as both launch pad and home base, Accencis is preparing for its most ambitious expansion yet. Chan is betting big on ideas that go far beyond restaurants, aiming to change how Canadians experience everything from family outings to personal wellness. He’s bringing KidZania to Canada for the first time, with a 100,000-square-foot centre where children can try out real-world jobs – piloting a plane, working in a hospital, running a bank – in a sprawling, interactive mini-city designed for learning through play. He’s also preparing to launch AKUA, a $30-million Japanese onsen spa set to open in 2026.
The ventures seem wildly different – children’s entertainment, luxury wellness, specialty coffee – but Chan sees connections others might miss. “It doesn’t really matter what the business is,” he says. “It’s all about service. The principles are the same.”
文化體驗的延伸
Eugene 的文化藍圖早已不侷限於餐飲。他正在多倫多北約克打造日式溫泉品牌 AKUA，總投資逾三千萬加元，預計 2026 年完工。「我們想做的不只是吃喝，而是創造一場五感文化體驗，讓人真真正正感受到亞洲文化的精緻與哲學。」透過空間與體驗，這個嶄新概念將亞洲價值觀融入現代生活。
此外，他計劃引進國際知名的日系兒童職業體驗品牌 KidZania，打造一座佔地十萬平方呎的互動迷你城市，透過角色扮演與財商教育，幫助下一代從小培養價值觀、社會責任與文化歸屬感。「我希望下一代不再在東西文化之間拉扯，而是能清晰認識自己的根源，自信走向未來。」
作為三位孩子的父親，Eugene 最動容的一句話是：「我所做的一切，都是為了他們。我希望他們知道，爸爸這一生的努力，是為了讓他們擁有選擇的權利，重構文化的根基。」這份動力，正是他文化鏈背後最真摯的初心。
These days, those principles drive him harder than ever. As a father of three children aged nine, six and three, Chan’s motivation has sharpened. “All of this is for them. Once you have kids, it’s no longer about you. Every day, I wake up and I work really hard to give them something for their future.”
Success, for him, isn’t just about revenue targets. It’s about opening doors and setting standards that other Asian Canadian entrepreneurs can build on.
“We’re here to contribute to society,” Chan says. “Whatever you choose to do, make it count.”
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眾人都是文化鏈上的一環
於 Eugene 而言，真正的品牌擴建從不是弱肉強食的遊戲，而是一場串連身份認同、引發共鳴與尊重的文化運動。
他透過品牌、空間與細節，把文化轉化成可以品嚐、感受、理解的日常閒趣。用一杯咖啡、一碗麵、一間店，訴說一個又一個屬於我們的故事。
寧靜致遠，以睿智與巧思回望根源，勇敢開創新一代的文化革命。
每位海外華人，只要願意分享、重拾文化價值，也可以是這條文化鏈上的一環。你準備好了嗎？
More from Fête Chiniose
As a child, Eugene Chan spent Saturday nights wedged between relatives and neighbours in bustling Chinese restaurants north of Toronto, plates clattering, chopsticks flashing, laughter cresting above the din. Yet, even in the warmth of community, he noticed an absence. “Why,” he wondered, “are these places always full, but never with a single westerner?” The question lingered for years. It’s now the driving force behind Accencis Group, the company Chan founded to help Asian-led brands break new ground, connecting with audiences across Canada and into new markets.