Japanese style matcha souffle pancake, with red bean side, at Kori, one of a burgeoning group of Asian dessert-themed stores in Auckland. Photo: Supplied
An increasing number of Asian style dessert parlours and bakeries have opened in Auckland's North Shore in the past year.
The latest data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed flat retail spending for the month, and a fall of 2.3 percent for the year.
Icey Bao said she had confidence to open her first dessert business - Aroma Dessert Studio (老椰手作) - in January this year, serving "sweet soups" (糖水) with coconut, mango and tapioca, which is common in her hometown in Guangdong, China.
Bao was convinced there was a good market for desserts despite the recession.
Mango shaved ice (Bingsu) from Aroma Desserts Studio in Albany. Photo: Supplied
"When the economy isn't doing well, people say the sale of lipstick go up, it's because compared to spending about $50-$100 at a restaurant for a formal meal, you only spend about $10 per person at a dessert shop, it's like the price of one milk tea, and you get to sit down and enjoy a dessert, this is why our business is doing well," Bao said, referencing the 'lipstick effect' spending psychology.
Bao said it took her some time to find her commercial rental in Albany, where she believes the businesses are doing well and any vacancies are highly sought after.
"Compared to other areas, Albany and Rosedale are better than Takapuna and Newmarket, In Newmarket we saw lots of empty leases on their main street, but in Albany it's very hard to find a storefront, anything that comes up gets rented out immediately," she said.
Friends Sheda Madladji and Vivian Doan try durian and mango desserts. Photo: RNZ/ Lucy Xia
In nearby Rosedale, dessert joint Kori - specialising in Japanese style souffle pancakes and shaved ice (Bingsu) - opened in June this year.
Its owner, Anastasia Kadir, said she was inspired after seeing the growing trend of Asian dine-in dessert parlours in Melbourne.
And dessert dining is preferred, under cost of living pressures.
"What I see is less and less people dining out for main food, the savoury food… but there's still a bit of desire, you wanna treat yourself, and that's normally with desserts. And I think that's why the dessert shops are growing more at the moment," Kadir said.
She felt the growing Asian migration to New Zealand was also driving the demand.
The majority of her customers are East Asians and South-East Asians, where there was more of a culture for hanging out at dessert places, instead of at the pub.
Specialty cakes with Asian inspired flavours from Wheatz Bakery's store in Albany. Photo: Supplied
Other business owners say there's been a noticeable increase in the number of Asian-flavour inspired dessert shops in Auckland.
Danni Song - who co-owns Wheatz Bakery in Albany (微苏可颂) - said there's more competition now, with four new Asian bakeries and dessert joints opening on Takapuna's main street this year.
Song also owns a bakery in the city centre and is looking to expand to more shops.
"I think the purchasing power of customers is okay, as our business hasn't been impacted much by the economy, so I haven't felt any decline in sales," she said.
Store owner Jade Yang says Auckland is catching up with dessert trends in Asia. Photo: Supplied
Jade Yang, owner of bubble-tea chain Teaser(茶舍), has been in the Asian desserts business since 2018. She said she's seeing more variety and competition now.
"After Covid, lots of people - they bring new dessert ideas, new fusion ideas into New Zealand," she said.
"So I think after Covid, the competition became more complicated - around the product or the store fitout, and everything - I think every aspect."
Yang, who started her first dine-in dessert venture Sip'n Chill in June this year, said she had noticed more shops opening up in East Auckland and on the North Shore.
She said Auckland was catching up with dessert trends in Asia, with the growing number of Asian migrants to the city.
"I didn't feel any recession in Albany and Rosedale" - real estate agent
Bayleys Commercial North Shore associate director Steven Liu said businesses are doing well in Albany and Rosedale's commercial precincts, which are mainly fed by local residents.
Shaved ice (Bingsu) topped with mochi, at Kori. Photo: Supplied
He it was rare to see shop vacancies in this area, and in September he had received two offers on the same day he put up an advertisement for a commercial lease that became available near Asian Supermarkets in Rosedale.
Liu said the impact of the economic downturn was being felt less in Albany and Rosedale: "I didn't feel any recession in Albany and Rosedale, I cannot say the true reason behind this situation, but what I'm guessing is because Albany and Rosedale are still developing."
And the developing infrastructure in the area had helped bring customers to the area, he said.
"They finished the Northwest Corridor two years ago, and you can see Warkworth, Millwater, had lots of infrastructure done, motorways. So I think the trend, or the future of development is in the North, and people have confidence here," he said.
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