The little-known dessert chain quietly planning to take over UK high street

Over the past decade, dessert shops have been taking implicit the precocious street, successful what immoderate social media users person dubbed an ‘epidemic’.

There are galore chains, with each 1 proclaiming to beryllium the crème de la crème of sugary treats. 

The large hitters are Creams Cafe – which markets itself arsenic the UK’s ‘favourite dessert parlour’ and has astir 100 stores – and Kaspa’s, the self-proclaimed ‘King of desserts’ with 104 locations.

But person you heard of Little Dessert Shop? 

The business, said to beryllium location to ‘the UK’s astir viral’ gelato, cakes, shakes, waffles, crepes, and cooky dough, has been astir since 2015. And portion it isn’t rather arsenic well-known arsenic its competitors, it’s apt this won’t beryllium the lawsuit for overmuch longer. 

In the past 10 years, the institution has opened 50 franchise-operated shops crossed the UK, with 20 of these having launched during the pandemic, arsenic the request for dainty deliveries via platforms similar JustEat and Deliveroo skyrocketed. Despite much than 13,000 precocious thoroughfare stores closing for bully successful 2024, Little Dessert Shop besides managed to unfastened different 7 shops past year.

They aren’t stopping immoderate clip soon either, with plans to motorboat 10 to 15 much branches successful 2025, targeting areas specified arsenic Plymouth, Southampton, Brighton and Bournemouth.

The eventual extremity is to treble their numbers by the extremity of 2027 to person 100 Little Dessert Shops crossed the UK, which CEO Zaeem Chohan says is simply a ‘very realistic target’.

Even so, Zaeem – who runs the concern with co-founder Maz Ali – insists it’s ‘never a race’. 

The 37-year-old tells Metro: ‘We privation to marque definite we’re bringing connected the close radical for the brand, opening the close locations, and offering that enactment to the radical that bash open.

‘So though we are looking to expand, and volition proceed to expand, the complaint astatine which we bash that isn’t our utmost priority. We privation to marque definite that it’s right.’ 

As good arsenic uncovering the close franchisees, Zaeem says they’ve enactment a batch of enactment into their nutrient too, claiming to beryllium the ‘only dessert marque successful the UK’ to proviso each of their ain products via a cardinal bakery. 

‘We nutrient each the products, truthful we cognize nary 1 other successful the marketplace volition person them,’ helium explains. ‘It gives america large power and means we’re capable to connection our products astatine little costs to our partners, and our consumers.’

While having their ain bakery is thing the concern prides itself on, Zaeem isn’t acrophobic to admit that the ideas down the saccharine treats they nutrient aren’t ever 100% original.

There are presently a whopping 150 items connected the Little Dessert Shop paper — everything from pistachio beverage cakes, to retro cornflake tarts, arsenic good arsenic a enactment of ‘viral’ dishes inspired by societal media. 

This enactment includes the 24-layer cocoa Brucey Cake (£14.95), which looks akin to Get Baked’s celebrated Bruce/Bertha (£17), cube-shaped Croissants costing £7.50 each – a spot similar the ones Le Deli Robuchon successful London started selling successful 2023 (£6.95) – and aesthetic £6.50 Custard Crumble Pots topped with marshmallow fluff à la Humble Crumble (prices from £6.95).

Little Dessert Shop’s purpose with this caller paper is to instrumentality desserts they cognize their customers privation and ‘offer them nationwide’, making trends accessible to everyone, not conscionable those who tin spend to unrecorded successful London.

‘We’re perpetually looking for caller options for our customers, and of people we instrumentality inspiration from societal media and look astatine what our demographics are interacting with,’ Zaeem states.

‘We past connection those products nationwide… and we’re assured with our bakery we tin supply it to a level that’s amended than anyone else.’

But is this truly the case? Reviews online for the chain’s products are mixed, with immoderate hailing them arsenic ‘heavenly’ and saying the cocoa barroom successful peculiar is ‘fantastic’ connected Trustpilot, but others person branded the desserts ‘sub-standard’ and assertion they’re ‘not worthy the money’.

The chain’s middling 3.3 prima standing connected the level hasn’t stopped the viral paper from been bringing successful the Gen Z customers though. As such, the concern is keen to enactment a absorption connected popular civilization trends, and precocious tapped into the occurrence of Wicked, releasing a greenish and pinkish matcha portion to necktie successful with the movie.

It’s a program that seems to beryllium moving for them, arsenic they’ve racked up 211,000 followers connected Instagram, and much than 160,000 connected TikTok, wherever their videos person garnered 2.7 cardinal likes.

Another mode they’ve drawn successful Gen Z customers is done a caller rebrand, which has seen their shops, website and societal accounts acquisition a makeover to go arsenic aesthetically pleasing arsenic possible, putting the viral paper astatine the forefront to marque everything look ‘more innovative, modern and fun’.

This determination is apt the cardinal to their saccharine success, according to retail and hospitality expert, Ariana Sverdlik.

Ariana, from contactless outgo institution SumUp, tells Metro: ‘These tiny businesses are thriving by tapping into a procreation obsessed with saccharine treats, nostalgic experiences, and societal media-worthy indulgences. Gen Z isn’t conscionable buying desserts; they’re curating experiences.

‘For a procreation that thrives connected documenting each moment, desserts connection the cleanable photogenic canvas for their societal media storytelling. While determination are wide concerns astir marketplace saturation and wellness implications, the sector’s maturation shows nary signs of melting away. Smart operators are expanding done franchising, adapting to section tastes, and creating spaces that are arsenic overmuch astir ocular entreaty arsenic they are astir flavour.’

If you inquire Zaeem the firm’s concealed though, it’s overmuch much simple.

‘We conscionable privation to marque radical happy, that’s ever been our key,’ helium says. ‘We’re a precise family-orientated business, and it’s not the easiest of times for a batch of people, truthful we privation our customers to beryllium capable to travel out, bask bully food, person a bully evening and get distant from the difficulties of life.’

Weekends and evenings are the busiest clip for the business, with galore of the shops staying unfastened until 11pm oregon later. Creams and Kaspa’s person akin opening hours, and it’s thought to beryllium 1 of the main reasons wherefore dessert parlours person go truthful fashionable – particularly wrong the Muslim community.

As users on Reddit person pointed out, the shops ‘fill a niche’ for those who don’t drink, offering a spot to socialise that isn’t a edifice oregon pub, and arsenic an added bonus, each the nutrient is halal.

Zaeem believes Little Dessert Shop is ‘definitely’ fashionable with Muslims, but stresses that the concern is for ‘everyone successful the UK’.

‘We privation everyone to person an accidental to bask dessert and bask a nighttime retired and walk clip with their family, truthful determination was nary request to adhd immoderate ingredients that were non-vegetarian, oregon adjacent alcoholic to our brand,’ helium says.

‘The past happening we privation is to travel to a peculiar town, oregon spot and radical beryllium incapable to spell to our shops due to the fact that of idiosyncratic choices oregon spiritual beliefs. We privation everyone to beryllium included.’

And with 100,000 antithetic ways to customise your bid astatine Little Dessert Shop, there’s bound to beryllium thing to suit each taste.

Have you tried the treats from Little Dessert Shop? Share your favourites below!Comment Now

As for wherefore they acceptable up store successful the archetypal place, Zaeem says they cottoned connected to the ‘gap successful the market’ beauteous quickly, arsenic it was precise noticeable successful their hometown of Wolverhampton.

‘There weren’t that galore places we wanted to spell retired to for an evening with household and friends, and we would person to question retired to places similar Birmingham, which is astir 40 minutes away. 

‘From visiting Birmingham, we could spot that a large dessert inclination was going to beryllium coming, and we wanted to get up of that curve.

‘We realised determination was an accidental astatine location to springiness backmost to our community, truthful we opened successful Queen Street adjacent the metropolis centre and we were fortunate that it was a fantastic success.

‘Now radical don’t person to question retired of Wolverhampton to bask a nighttime out.’

They besides don’t person to question precise acold to find thing savoury to eat, arsenic Zaeem and Maz person besides precocious launched their own accelerated nutrient chain, known arsenic Betsy’s Burgers.

Currently they person 2 standalone Betsy’s locations, successful Wolverhampton and successful Stoke-On-Trent, arsenic good arsenic ‘X’ stores, selling some Betsy’s and Little Dessert Shop products successful Wolverhampton, Lichfield, Crewe, and Stafford.

As with the dessert broadside of things, the paper astatine Betsy’s is monolithic and covers everything from Brooklyn-style smashed burgers, to waffle meal sandwiches, slurpees, soiled fries, football-inspired combo meals, and chickenhearted wings.

‘Some places onslaught the burger market, oregon onslaught the chickenhearted market, but I deliberation Betsy’s truly does both,’ Zaeem explains. ‘The paper covers each of the meals of the time and combines our 2 brands, it’s a unsocial conception and we’re the lone marque to connection thing similar this.’

He adds that helium and Maz person been moving the archetypal fewer shops themselves to get everything acceptable up the mode they want, earlier rolling it retired and exploring franchise opportunities.

‘We’re prepared now, truthful hopefully you’re going to spot a large enlargement connected each 3 fronts soon — Little Dessert Shop, Betsy’s, and the X model.’

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