Wow! Sweet Bao: Heavenly Desserts launches Itsu Bao Buns

Worldwide dessert franchise, Heavenly Desserts, has joined forces with Asian-inspired grocery brand, itsu, to launch its TikTok-famed sweet chocolate bao buns directly into its stores all over the country.

Having launched in Heavenly Desserts' 50 restaurants UK-wide, the vegan, warm and delightfully fluffy bao buns are filled with a smooth, melt-in-the-middle chocolate filling and are served alongside a delicious caramel dipping sauce.

This addition to the Heavenly Desserts menu results from itsu’s continual efforts innovate ranges with new flavours that excite modern audiences with trending ingredients and with unique concepts.

The bao buns created by itsu will be available at Heavenly Desserts’ restaurants, and will also become a core item on its ‘dessert tapas’ menu. 

Ravinder Faguraha, who is the project support manager at Heavenly Desserts, said: “Partnering with itsu to bring these sweet treats into our menu was such a genuine joy. It’s the largest partnership we’ve embarked on so far, which holds true to our unrelenting commitment to innovation. 

“After a lot of consumer research and flavour profiling and following on from the popularity of our mochi desserts which we announced last summer, we learned 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. 

“Most Brits are aware that bao buns come with a savoury filling like duck and hoisin sauce, but they can be made differently by using a sweet middle. So, it was a no-brainer that these would attract new customers familiar with the cuisine to Heavenly Desserts."

As a pioneering Asian inspired restaurant and grocery brand, itsu is based within the UK. The global company was founded in 1997 by Julian Metcalfe, who was co-founder of sandwich chain Pret A Manger. 

Yousif Aslam, co-founder and MD at Heavenly Desserts, said: “Partnering with household brand names like itsu is such an exciting step for us. We're always drawing inspiration from other cuisines and recently launched our springtime drinks range which were crafted from authentic Japanese flavours like matcha and yuzu. 

"These have been really popular, so alongside the bao buns we're also announcing our Strawberry Daquiri mocktail and extending our springtime drinks into summer for the perfect refresher.”

Julian Metcalfe, itsu's founder said: “Sweet Bao is really an historic breakthrough, -every now and then, the team hits a real bullseye; this is one such lucky example. After in excess of 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 a whole year to create this phenomenal first-to-market, brand new product.”

For more information about Heavenly Desserts and its menus visit: https://www.heavenlydesserts.co.uk.