Cake sales in Bangladesh are growing at a faster pace, driven by changing taste and consumption while celebrating various occasions.

"The market of the cake and pastry is expanding rapidly. Small, medium and big companies have entered the segment in recent years. There is also a boom in home-made products," said Aminul Islam Rashed, head of marketing at Cooper's, a popular brand.

The history of baking cakes in Bangladesh as old as the country itself, at least.

Ananda Confectionery, which has been producing biscuits for over a century, added its popular freshly baked fruit cake many decades ago, according to industry people.

Yousuf Confectionery began making breads, biscuits and cakes for Dhaka residents since the start of the World War II. And in the 1970s and 1980s, Hotel Purbani dominated the pastry and cake market.

But the modern concept of a cake and pastry shop was introduced by Douglas J A Cooper, a British World War II veteran.

Cooper and his Bangladeshi wife Sufia Cooper ventured into the cake and pastry business, setting up a small shop in Dhaka under the brand name Cooper's Bakery, with a view to introducing the city-dwellers to British dishes.

Its branches spread all over the city in the following years.

As Bangladesh's economy expanded and people's purchasing power grew, many more cake and pastry brands have been launched.

Even the coronavirus pandemic has not been able to dampen the mood of entrepreneurs looking to establish their footprint in the business as hundreds of them set up shops in the last two years, since these products exploded into popularity during the lockdowns as people spent more time indoors.

For instance, Cooper's Bakery opened more than 15 outlets during the pandemic, taking its tally to 52, with six in Chattogram and the rest 46 in Dhaka.

With economic growth growing at 7 per cent on an average in the decade before the pandemic, the purchasing power of people has gone up and cake has become an integral part of any celebration.

And it is unimaginable to hold parties related to birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day and Christmas Day without cakes being cut. Corporates are also a major consumer.

And it is not only Dhaka that is home to cake sellers.

Cake and pastry shops are sprouting across the country. Currently, there are several thousand shops, creating about 20,000 jobs.

The estimated size of the cake and pastry market is about Tk 400 crore, according to industry people.

December 31 is the busiest day for the retailers followed by Valentine's Day.

Bakery brand Bread & Beyond's outlet in Panthapath sold 46 cakes on December 31, according to a staff member.

There were only two or three cake and pastry shops in the bustling locality three years ago. Now it is home to about a dozen of shops.

"The market was unorganised before. Now organised retail chain system has been introduced by various popular brands. So, customers are getting quality products," Kamruzzaman Kamal, director for marketing at Pran-RFL Group, told The Daily Star.

Pran ventured into retail food chains in 2014 with Tasty Treat, a cake and pastry brand. Today, it has more than 230 outlets.

Later in 2015, it launched sweets brand Mithai, which also sells cake and pastry. It now has more than 130 outlets. 

Other than cake and pastry, almost every brand sells bakery items such as bread, biscuits, fast-food, chocolates and sweets.

The price of a regular cake varies from Tk 800 to Tk 2,000 per kilogramme. Some customers also opt for special cakes or customised ones, with the price starting from Tk 2,500 per kg.

Syed Nurul Islam, chairman of Well Food, says although his brand is specialised in bakery products, it has a strong presence in the cake and pastry segment.

"As the tendency among people growing to celebrate occasions, the cake and pastry consumption is increasing at an impressive rate. So, we want to put more focus on the segment to meet the growing demand."

The Chattogram-based brand started its operations 18 years ago and now it has 70 outlets. It has also presence in Dhaka and Sylhet.

The demand for home-made cakes is also growing thanks to Facebook-based commerce. Riding on the social media giant, many women have turned into entrepreneurs.

One of them is Hafiza Khatun Shima, a housewife who lives in the capital.

She used to upload pictures of various cakes she made for her child at the onset of the pandemic.

After a few months, she started receiving requests from a Facebook-based food seller, asking her to send cakes to its customers through couriers.

Initially, she was a bit unsure. Then, she delivered the first order in September 2020. Five more orders arrived the next day from the same customers, giving a boost to Shima's confidence level.

A few weeks later, she opened her Facebook page Shima's Kitchen and her customers became her biggest promoter.

"Many people visit relatives with cakes instead of sweets as children are fond of them. Besides, people want to give birthday surprise with cakes," she said.