Dessert franchise Heavenly Desserts has partnered with Asian-inspired brand itsu to offer sweet chocolate bao buns at its 48 UK restaurants.
Served warm with caramel sauce, the buns are described as “fluffy” with a “melt-in-the-middle” chocolate filling. They will be available on the chain’s regular and Dessert Tapas menus.
“After a lot of consumer research and flavour profiling and following on from the popularity of our mochi desserts which we announced in summer last year, we found that bao buns are setting a trend in the dessert sector as itsu has become the go-to brand in the UK market for this recognisable Asian dish,” said Ravinder Faguraha, project support manager at Heavenly Desserts.
She added, “Most Brits know bao buns to come with a savoury filling such as duck and hoisin sauce, but they can be made slightly differently by adding a sweet middle. So, it was a no-brainer that these would attract new customers familiar with the cuisine to Heavenly Desserts.”
The launch comes after Heavenly Desserts introduced an extensive plant-based menu for Veganuary 2023. The menu features brownies, sundaes, mochi, and more.
“Historic breakthrough”
Itsu first launched its sweet bao buns this March, available in both chocolate and salted caramel flavours. The filling is made with coconut cream, and both flavours are vegan-friendly. They are available for retail at Tesco and Waitrose.
“Sweet Bao is a historic breakthrough – every now and then, the team hits a bullseye; this is one such lucky example,” said Julian Metcalfe, founder of itsu. “After more than 50 failed trials, we managed to get rich quality chocolate to flow, molten warm, from inside the fluffy bao bun. It’s the result of our dedicated 10-person strong NPD team who have worked tirelessly for one year to create this phenomenal first-to-market new product.”
