PAUL Le Café at Changi Airport Terminal 3 is part of PAUL, a French bakery and café company with roots going back to 1889, when Charlemagne Mayot took over a small bakery in Croix, near Lille in the north of France. The business has stayed within the same family for five generations, passing from the Mayot family to the Holder family in 1953, and continues to be family-owned today.
PAUL's Singapore flagship opened in January 2012 at Ngee Ann City, bringing the brand's time-honoured production methods to the local market. Globally, PAUL now operates more than 850 bakeries across over 56 countries and five continents, in cities including London, Washington, Dubai, Cairo and Tokyo, while still following the traditional baking approach first established by its founder — including the visible, wood-fired baking introduced by Francis Holder in 1972.
PAUL is known for classic French bakery items such as croissants, macarons and palmiers, and uses free-range eggs in its mini macarons as part of its social responsibility commitments. The brand also offers catering and events services for customers looking to bring PAUL's French bakery offerings to a larger gathering.
Tucked into Level 2 of Changi Airport's Terminal 3, PAUL Le Café brings a genuine slice of French baking history to travellers passing through Singapore's air hub. The story behind PAUL stretches back to 1889, when Charlemagne Mayot took over a small bakery in the town of Croix, near Lille in the north of France — a business that has remained in the same family for five generations since.
The family line continued through Edmond Mayot in 1908, and later through Suzanne Mayot's marriage to Julien Holder, whose family moved into a bakery on Rue des Sarrazins in Lille. Francis Holder began working alongside his parents in 1953, taking over the family bakery after Julien Holder's death in 1958 and opening a second location in 1963. It was Francis Holder who, in 1972, refurbished the family bakery in Lille to install a wood-fired oven with baking done in full view of customers — an idea that felt like simple common sense to him, even though it was considered innovative at the time.
PAUL's international story began in 1985, when the brand opened its first bakery outside France, in Barcelona. Two years later, some PAUL bakeries began incorporating café or restaurant areas, setting the template for locations like this one at Changi Airport. In 1993, Francis Holder refreshed the brand with its now-iconic black shopfronts and introduced a line of artisan speciality breads made using sustainably produced winter wheat.
PAUL's Singapore journey began with a flagship store at Ngee Ann City in January 2012. Today, PAUL operates more than 850 bakeries across over 56 countries and five continents, with locations in cities such as London, Washington, Dubai, Cairo and Tokyo — all while remaining family-owned and still committed to the same time-honoured production methods first laid down by Charlemagne Mayot back in 1889.
At its heart, PAUL is known for the pastries that have become synonymous with French bakery culture: croissants, macarons and palmiers among them. The brand describes these as its most-loved pastries, and they form the backbone of the café experience wherever a PAUL location is found, including here at Terminal 3. PAUL has also taken steps toward greater sustainability, including a move to use only free-range eggs in its mini macarons, part of a broader environmental commitment the brand highlights as central to its future.
For those who can't make it in person, PAUL offers island-wide delivery in Singapore, with free delivery available on orders of $120 or more. Orders need to be placed at least one to two calendar days in advance, by 6pm, and delivery isn't available to certain restricted postal codes. PAUL also runs a dedicated catering and events service for larger occasions, bookable through the brand's events enquiry channel.
For travellers moving through Changi Airport Terminal 3, PAUL Le Café offers a chance to pause with a proper French bakery experience — a fitting stop whether it's a coffee and croissant before a flight, or a last taste of something familiar before heading home.