Twenty years ago, the idea of going out specifically for dessert was relatively unusual. But over the past few decades an entirely new eating-out sector has emerged comprising businesses devoted almost exclusively to sweet things. Dessert cafés and parlours have become an increasingly visible part of the UK’s high streets and leisure developments, with several of the largest operators building estates of close to 100 sites.
The category is becoming more diverse and ambitious, too. Alongside the established parlour brands, a new generation of concepts is entering the market with more focused products, premium positioning and experience-led formats. From ethereal Japanese soufflé pancakes and self-serve frozen yoghurt to Filipino-inspired French toast, dessert is no longer simply the final course - increasingly, it is becoming the reason to go out in the first place.
Leading the market
The UK’s largest dessert-parlour brands tend to operate with broad menus built around ice cream, waffles, crêpes, cookie dough, shakes, smoothies and coffee. Creams is the biggest player in the category, with an estate now closing in on 100 sites. Founded by Adam Mani and Balal Aqil in 2008, it opened its first dessert café in Southall in 2011. Kaspa’s followed in Croydon in 2012 and is now hot on its heels with 78 locations.
Like the majority of dessert concepts, both businesses have achieved much of their growth through franchising. Kaspa’s has even developed a range of formats to support its expansion, including Kaspa’s Classic, Kaspa’s Kiosk and Kaspa’s Dark Kitchen, allowing it to adapt the concept to different locations and levels of investment.
Creams, meanwhile, has looked to broaden its appeal beyond its core dessert offer. It introduced its first savoury menu in 2019, followed in 2020 by popcorn chicken waffle bites, which it described as a UK first.
The brand has also expanded into new retail environments. Tesco Family Dining has signed a nationwide franchise agreement with Creams to create co-branded spaces within Tesco cafés, giving the dessert brand access to an established retail network and existing customer footfall.
Notably and in common with many of their competitors, both Creams and Kaspa’s began life in ethnically diverse parts of London with large Muslim communities and have built a strong presence in comparable areas around the country. Their popularity reflects the role dessert parlours can play as late-night, alcohol-free social spaces, particularly for communities in which people may not drink for religious or cultural reasons.
Premiumisation
One of the most significant recent developments in the category has been the emergence of operators offering a more elevated alternative to the traditional dessert café.
Nizam Mohamed, who founded Heavenly Desserts, subsequently created Haute Dolci as a more premium, restaurant-style proposition. He recently sold his rights to the Heavenly Desserts brand and converted two former Heavenly Desserts locations into Haute Dolci restaurants.
Founded in 2017, Haute Dolci has since grown to around 20 UK restaurants, with recent openings including Bristol, Wembley and Reading. The wider business has also launched Dolci Mono, a smaller kiosk format currently operating in Birmingham and at Brent Cross in London.
Haute Dolci combines elaborate, presentation-led desserts and patisserie with opulent, highly Instagrammable interiors. Its increasingly substantial all-day brunch and savoury offer also allows its restaurants to trade across more dayparts than a conventional evening-focused dessert parlour.
The brand’s development suggests there is room for operators to take the category upmarket, placing greater emphasis on product presentation, premium ingredients, interior design and service. Rather than competing principally on the breadth of their menus, these businesses are positioning dessert as a more considered dining occasion.
Specialist dessert concepts
Alongside the larger parlour brands, a growing number of specialist operators are entering the UK market with narrower but more distinctive propositions.
Fluffy Fluffy is one example. Founded in Toronto in 2018, the Japanese soufflé-pancake specialist entered the UK in 2022 and has expanded rapidly through franchising. Its forthcoming Milton Keynes restaurant is set to become its 19th UK location.
Rather than offering the extensive menu associated with the traditional dessert parlour, Fluffy Fluffy places its hero product at the centre of the proposition. Its made-to-order Japanese soufflé pancakes are complemented by croffles, sandos and brunch dishes. The Milton Keynes restaurant will also feature an open kitchen, allowing customers to watch the pancakes being prepared and adding an element of theatre to the experience.
Australian frozen-yoghurt brand Yo-Chi is taking a similarly specialist approach, making its UK debut this month with a 2,000sq ft site in Notting Hill. Its self-service format allows customers to construct their own bowls, choosing from nine frozen-yoghurt flavours and more than 30 toppings before paying by weight.
The concept also reflects the evolving role of dessert venues as social spaces. Yo-Chi says some of its Australian locations have become alcohol-free alternatives to pubs and bars, particularly among Gen Z customers. Its UK launch therefore combines a focused product with customisation, theatre and a strong social element.
Another new entrant is Toasteé, a French-toast and ube bar due to open at Westfield London in White City this September. It is the third concept from 1996 Group, which also operates Filipino restaurant Donia in Soho and Panadera Bakery in Marylebone, and has been created by founder Florence Mae Maglanoc and chef Adrian Kyle Felipe.
The concept builds its proposition around ube, the purple yam widely used in Filipino desserts. Its French toast will feature flavours inspired by the Philippines and wider Southeast Asia, with ingredients including ube jam, matcha ganache and Milo cookies and cream.
Toasteé demonstrates how newer dessert operators are seeking points of difference through specific hero products, distinctive ingredients and cultural influences. It also reflects a broader shift away from the catch-all dessert-parlour format towards concepts with a clearer and more readily communicated identity.
Taken together, the continued growth of established parlours and the emergence of premium and specialist operators point to a UK dessert market that is becoming broader, more sophisticated and increasingly competitive. Brands are finding new ways to differentiate themselves through products, international flavours, premium positioning and experience-led formats. What was once merely the final part of a meal has become an eating-out occasion in its own right.
Sweet spot: the dessert markets key players
Creams
Founded: 2008
Number of sites: 92
Creams was founded by Adam Mani and Balal Aqil in 2008, although its first dessert café did not open until 2011. The brand - which offers a wide range of desserts including ice cream, waffles, crepes and milkshakes - grew rapidly through franchising, at one stage opening more than 20 restaurants a year, and hit the 100-site mark in 2021. Recent initiatives include concessions within Tesco cafés and the launch of ordering platform Creams Direct. Earlier this year, Creams said it was seeking to trademark its Froffle Toast after selling more than 5,000 portions of the French toast-waffle hybrid during its first month.
Kaspa’s
Founded: 2012
Number of sites: 78
Born in Croydon, Kaspa’s was founded by Azhar Rehman in 2012 and has subsequently grown through franchising to become one of the UK’s largest dessert-parlour brands. Its menu spans hot and cold desserts including gelato, waffles, crêpes, shakes, smoothies and sundaes. The company made its international debut in 2018 with an opening in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. In 2024, it made its central London debut with a flagship site in Soho.
Heavenly Desserts
Founded: 2008
Number of sites: 61
hHeavenly Desserts was launched in Birmingham by Nizam Mohamed in 2008 and grew initially through company-owned restaurants before adopting a franchise model that accelerated its expansion. Its menu includes dessert tapas, mochi, milk cakes, cookie dough, sundaes and its signature croffle - a croissant-waffle hybrid. Earlier this month, Moamed sold the rights to Heavenly Desserts and rebranded two sites as restaurants under his more recently created Haute Dolci brand. It also operates a single site in Canada.
Little Dessert Shop
Founded: 2015
UK sites: 63
Little Dessert Shop was founded in Wolverhampton by Mu’azzam Ali and has expanded through franchising to become one of the UK’s largest dessert-parlour brands. Its extensive menu includes waffles, crêpes, cookie dough, cheesecakes, gelato, shakes and mocktails. At the end of 2024, the business said it operated 50 franchised stores and was targeting 100 sites by the end of 2027. It had also signed agreements for a further 15 locations.
Chocoberry
Founded: 2018
UK sites: 25
Chocoberry began in Leicester as a dessert-led concept and has since grown to 21 café locations, with a further four dedicated dessert shops. Its menu includes crepes, churros, strawberry cups and ice cream, alongside brunch and speciality coffee, with the brand also expanding internationally into the UAE.
Snowflake
Founded: 2012
Number of sites: 16
Snowflake is a luxury gelato and dessert-parlour brand founded in London by former technology executive Asad Khan and Italian gelato chef Paolo Rivieccio. It serves its core product alongside crêpes, waffles and other plated desserts.
Haute Dolci
Founded: 2017
UK sites: circa 24
Haute Dolci was founded by Heavenly Desserts creator Nizam Mohamed as a more premium, restaurant-style proposition. Its opulently designed venues combine plated desserts and patisserie with an increasingly substantial all-day brunch and savoury offer. The brand has recently expanded with openings in Bristol and Wembley and launched Dolci Mono, a smaller-format kiosk concept built around customisable chocolate-coated ice-cream bars.
Treatz
Founded: 2012
Number of sites: 18
Treatz was launched in Slough by entrepreneurs Mohammad Khalil and Mohammed Imran Monir. The franchised dessert-parlour concept is known for its gelato, waffles, crêpes, cookie dough, cakes and shakes.
Fluffy Fluffy
Founded: 2018 (UK launch 2022)
UK sites: 18
Founded in Toronto, Fluffy Fluffy is a Japanese soufflé-pancake specialist that entered the UK in 2022 and has subsequently expanded rapidly through franchising. Its made-to-order pancakes are complemented by croffles, sandos and brunch dishes. In June it signed for its 19th UK site, a 1,548sq ft restaurant in Milton Keynes billed as its largest UK location to date.
Cheat Daze
Founded: 2022
UK sites: 14
Cheat Daze was created after Muhammad ‘Momo’ Abdullah acquired and rebranded an existing dessert shop in Burnage, Manchester. Following several openings in Greater Manchester, it expanded through franchising into locations including Bradford and Batley. Its menu includes waffles, pancakes, cookie dough, shakes and cakes. Cheat Daze says it opened six stores during 2025 and another four in the first four months of 2026, taking it to 14, with a target of 20 by the end of the year.
The Urban Chocolatier
Founded: 2013
UK sites: 11
The Urban Chocolatier was founded by brothers Ali Sadaqat and Waqas Ali in Whitechapel. The brand offers cakes, fondue platters, signature waffles and artisan gelato.
Cream Curls
Founded: 2017
UK sites: 9
The brand began in Heaton, Newcastle, and has since grown to nine stores nationwide, with a further two listed as coming soon. Its menu features handcrafted ice cream rolls, ice cream burgers, waffle sticks, cookie dough, crepes, cheesecake and doughnuts.
Kova Patiserrie
Founded: 2016
UK sites: 6
Kova Patisserie is a London-based cake and tea shop specialising in Japanese-French patisserie. The brand has a strong focus on matcha, with products including its matcha banoffee tart and matcha shortcake.
Doughnotts
Founded: 2015
UK sites: 6
Doughnotts was founded by Megan Scaddan and Wade Smith, starting in Megan’s mum’s kitchen ‘with just £10’, before opening its first shop in Nottingham. The brand specialises in handmade doughnuts ranging from mini doughnuts to regular and supersized options.
Fuwa Fuwa
Founded: 2017
UK sites: 3
FuwaFuwa describes itself as the first brand to bring Japanese soufflé pancakes to the UK, specialising in handcrafted, made-to-order pancakes using its signature recipe and quality ingredients. Its pancakes are served with a range of toppings, including Biscoff and Banana Nutella.
Big Kid Ice Cream/ Whippies
Founded: 2022
UK sites: 2
Big Kid Ice Cream was founded by Harry Webb in the West Midlands before expanding to London with an ice cream van and later opening a permanent scoop shop in Soho. It has since launched Whippies at Seven Dials Market, a soft-serve concept inspired by classic ice cream van favourites.
Chin Chin
Founded: 2010
UK sites: 2
Chin Chin was founded by Ahrash Akbari-Kalhur and Nyisha Weber in Camden. It has built a reputation for bringing high-end dessert techniques, including liquid nitrogen, to a wider audience; the brand offers ice cream, ice cream sandwiches and desserts such as sticky toffee pudding.