Image Credit: Balance Creative
When Dennis and Melissa Mbeba stepped on stage at the 2022 Halifax Business Awards to accept their trophy for Small Business of the Year, everyone in the room felt their joy and enthusiasm. It wasn’t hard to imagine how their passion and energy could translate into award-winning desserts.
For Melissa Mbeba, creating joy is at the heart of the business. “Desserts make people happy,” she says. “They add something special to any celebration, they bring families and friends together, and they delight people of every age. We love putting smiles on the faces of our customers and hearing how much they loved their dessert.”
Back in 2017, Dennis and Melissa Mbeba first opened Delectable Desserts after noticing a need in the Halifax Regional Municipality for locally sourced, menu-ready desserts. “Many foodservice operators are unable to produce desserts in-house because of staffing, space, or time constraints — so they outsource,” explains Melissa Mbeba. “Most menu-ready desserts are imported from western Canada or the United States via international foodservice distributors. We provide a fresh alternative to those looking for it.”
Delectable Desserts can tailor their desserts to suit any type of establishment or event, and they typically cost less than desserts made in-house. They can be delivered decorated or undecorated and can be stored frozen for up to nine months. “We have an amazing team of professionally trained bakers who help to produce our desserts from scratch each day,” says Melissa Mbeba. “We use only high-quality ingredients that are locally sourced whenever possible. We crack every egg, use real cream, and we honestly bake with love.”
While the bulk of their revenue is now made through wholesale sales, it took time and hard work to generate customer trust. “Our biggest challenge was securing wholesale customers when we first opened,” says Melissa Mbeba. “We had no reputation, and there was rightfully some hesitation from foodservice operators about providing a new and unknown product to their customers. Once chefs started buying from us, they quickly became regular customers.”
Their regular customers helped Delectable Desserts find success across Halifax. “They started spreading the word to other chefs and restauranteurs in the city,” says Melissa Mbeba. “Word of mouth has been our most effective form of advertising.”
The popularity of Delectable Desserts has opened a new revenue stream outside of wholesale sales. “We’ve developed a loyal following of retail customers, and this now accounts for almost one third of our business,” says Melissa Mbeba. “We sell our products in our retail shop in Burnside from Tuesday to Saturday, as well as online. This is something we didn’t plan for, but we love it!”
Melissa Mbeba notes that success has brought its challenges, too. “As an established business, our biggest challenge is securing the production space and sourcing necessities like packaging needed to keep up with demand,” she says. “We haven’t overcome these obstacles yet, but being too busy is a good problem to have!”
Expansion and innovation are on the horizon for Delectable Desserts. “With fall just around the corner, new seasonal flavours will be available very soon,” says Melissa Mbeba. “We are also looking to expand our production facility in 2023 to keep up with local demand and broaden our geographic market to include all three Maritime provinces.”
Learn more about Delectable Desserts at:
< Back to Articles | Topics: Member Profile