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A dessert shop chain founded by friends who worked at the same Midland garage has become a sensation loved by footballers and Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague. Little Dessert Shop was set up by Mu’azzam Ali and Zaeem Chohan in 2015 after the sweet-mad pals wanted to create a social space that wasn’t a club or pub.
Since their first store opened on Queen Street in Wolverhampton, the pair have opened 50 across the country with a major local presence at locations including the Bullring, Kings Heath and across the Black Country. “We were inspired by Häagen-Dazs,” Mu’azzam, known as Maz, told BirminghamLive.
The 42-year-old said they loved ice-cream and used to visit the Häagen-Dazs store in Leicester Square in London. After doing an MBA at university, Maz worked at Waitrose and Royal Mail before joining his family’s mechanic business where he changed tyres with Zaeem. But they set their sights on starting a venture together.
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“At the time we were both in the mechanic trade. We still own eight car garages in the West Midlands but we changed our focus.
“It took off, and people were coming from London and all over the UK to the shop in Wolverhampton. We opened more stores and featured in ASDA with a cookie product,” said Maz.
There are now Little Dessert Shops across the UK, including Manchester, London and Glasgow. The chain’s Altrincham location went viral after Molly-Mae shared a video with then-boyfriend Tommy Fury tucking into white chocolate cookie-dough, Biscoff milkshakes and cheesecake.
The video racked up 7.7 million TikTok views and boosted the ‘viral’ content Little Dessert Shop pumps out on its social media platforms showing close-ups of melted chocolate, unboxings and trademarked dishes like ‘cakey-dough.’
The brand, which touts itself as making the “UK’s most viral desserts”, has 167,000 followers and 2.3 million likes on TikTok. It has also become a magnet for footballers, with John Terry, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho among the stars tucking into cookie dough and milkshakes.
Maz said Little Dessert Shop now had an HQ in Wolverhampton with more than 100 employees, a bakery and distribution centre. “A lot of people were opening dessert shops, a lot of independents shut down but we built our foundations.
“The key focus has been the menu, a lot of our products are developed and produced in-house. We make our own ice-cream, our crepe mix comes from France, we are able to create our own unique products,” said Maz.
One unique product is the ‘cakey-dough’ dish, which they have trademarked. It consists of cookie dough base with a cake flavour in popular flavours like sticky-toffee pudding and birthday cake-style.
Dessert parlours are a booming businesses, particularly in the West Midlands. “I don’t drink alcohol, bars and pubs are off limits, I wanted to create a family friendly environment. It was about creating an atmosphere where people can go where [there is no] drinking,” explained Maz.
“Wolverhampton at the time had bars and clubs that were closing down, we didn’t have anything else like this in Wolverhampton. Our customers come from everywhere, desserts can really make you feel better.”
Maz said his day-to-day role involved working to get the chain to “the next level”, menu development, branding and marketing. Little Dessert Shop plans to double their estate by 2027.
He said: “I never thought it would get to this level, we just thought we would have one shop and then sell it off. Molly-Mae comes to our store [Altrincham] regularly we have footballers come it is a whirlwind and we didn’t expect it at the time.
“We were really surprised she was at the store, to be fair it is becoming a sweet destination. That’s what has triggered our ambition and growth strategy.
“I think we can be a national brand.”
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