KOI Dessert Bar

What KOI Dessert Bar does

KOI Dessert Bar is an Australian premium dessert café and cake studio, founded in 2016 by Ike Malada (mother of the Poernomo brothers) and operating as a privately held, family-owned business with 27 employees. The company operates three boutique locations: its Chippendale (Sydney) headquarters, the Ryde production kitchen and class venue, and a 2024-opened Melbourne flagship at 100 Queen Street in the Queen & Collins precinct. All sites operate on a walk-in-only model with no reservations; an online cake-ordering platform extends pickup availability beyond the storefronts.

The product offering centers on sculptural, Japanese-inspired mousse-based cakes and architectural desserts, leveraging the celebrity profile of Head Chef Reynold Poernomo (MasterChef and Dessert Masters alumnus). Signature items include Strawberry Japanese Chiffon Cake, Dubai Dream Celebration Cake, seasonal exclusives such as OHayo Fuji San, and limited-edition collaborations like the Bath & Body Works Vera Bradley Peachy Hero Cake. Production is centralised at the Ryde kitchen and distributed to the Sydney and Melbourne boutiques, with Square-issued gift cards redeemable nationally and no expiry.

Revenue is generated across four streams: (1) walk-in cake and coffee café retail at all three boutiques; (2) online cake orders for pickup; (3) paid hands-on dessert classes and guest-chef masterclasses at Ryde, priced $150–$485 per person; and (4) brand partnership and experiential marketing collaborations with luxury and lifestyle clients including Dior, Ferrero Rocher, Carolina Herrera, Glenmorangie, Kate Spade New York, Disney, Sensodyne, and Circa Home, encompassing custom dessert development, in-store activations, multi-channel marketing, and gift-with-purchase programmes. The customer base spans experience-seeking affluent consumers across NSW and VIC and brand-side marketing teams seeking premium culinary activations.

Name

KOI Dessert Bar

Legal name

KOI Dessert Bar

Website

https://koidessertbar.com.au

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

KOI Dessert Bar is an Australian premium dessert café and cake studio operating three boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne, offering sculptural Japanese-inspired mousse-based cakes, paid dessert classes, and experiential marketing collaborations with luxury brands. Founded 2016, family-owned.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisanal Dessert Café and Cake Studio

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Retail Bakeries (311811), Baked Goods Retailers (445291)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812), Bakery Products (2050)

akta.pro primary industry

Dessert Cafes & Dessert Bars (Sit-Down) (THAFAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Dessert Cafes (Coffee + Desserts) (THAFADAH), Cake Shops & Custom Celebration Cakes (THAFAFAC)

Keywords

• Artisan dessert cafe
• Sculptural mousse cakes
• Japanese inspired desserts
• Dessert making classes
• Luxury brand collaborations

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Cake and Dessert Retail: Direct sales of signature cakes and desserts at three physical retail locations, featuring limited-edition and seasonal creations
2. Dessert Classes and Workshops: Hands-on classes taught by guest chefs and KOI's own team, ranging from $150-$485 per person, held at KOI Dessert Kitchen in Ryde
3. Brand Partnerships and Collaborations: Custom dessert development and experiential activations with luxury and lifestyle brands including Dior, Ferrero Rocher, Carolina Herrera, Glenmorangie, Kate Spade, Disney, Sensodyne
4. Gift Cards: Square-issued gift cards valid at all KOI locations with no expiry date

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

KOI Dessert Bar is a premium dessert café and cake studio that sells architecturally-designed, mousse-based and Japanese-inspired cakes and desserts at three flagship boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne, with online ordering for pickup. It also offers paid hands-on dessert classes ($150-$485 per person) at KOI Dessert Kitchen in Ryde, plus B2B custom dessert development and experiential brand activations for luxury clients.

Product overview

KOI Dessert Bar is a dessert-focused hospitality business operating as a platform-plus-services model. The core offering centers on artisanal mousse-based cakes and sculptural Japanese-inspired desserts sold through three boutique locations (Sydney Chippendale, Sydney Ryde, and Melbourne CBD) and an online cake shop. Adjacent services include in-cafe Cakes & Coffee dining, hands-on Dessert Classes taught by guest chefs, and Gift Cards. The product portfolio includes signature seasonal cakes, limited-edition collaboration creations, and celebration-size cakes for events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KOI Signature Cakes Artisan mousse-based cakes and sculptural desserts featuring Japanese-inspired flavours, sold at KOI boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne.
• KOI Cakes & Coffee (In-Café Dining) In-cafe dining experience featuring signature cake selections paired with coffee and beverages at KOI boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne.
• KOI Dessert Classes Hands-on dessert-making workshops covering techniques for cakes, chocolates, and decorative piping, priced $150-$485 per person, taught by guest chefs and KOI's culinary team at KOI Dessert Kitchen in Ryde.
• KOI Gift Cards Digital and physical gift cards for KOI Dessert Bar, redeemable at Sydney and Melbourne locations with no expiry.
• KOI Online Cake Shop Online ordering platform for KOI cakes, enabling customers to place orders online for pickup from any KOI location.
• Brand Collaboration and Custom Dessert Development Custom dessert development and experiential marketing activations for luxury and lifestyle brand clients, including consumer competitions, gift with purchase, in-store activations, content shoots, and multi-channel marketing support.

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• DiorflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerDior and KOI Dessert Bar teamed with Harper's Bazaar for the Dior Fine Jewellery collection. Custom dessert development with content shoot featuring KOI's sculptural creations.
• Ferrero RocherflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerFerrero Rocher partnered with KOI Dessert Bar and Head Chef Reynold Poernomo for the 'Say it with Gold' Christmas campaign. Included custom development, consumer competition, multi-channel marketing campaign, gift with purchase, and branded in-store elements.
• Carolina HerreracoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCarolina Herrera hosted a 3-week Mother's Day brand takeover, transforming KOI Dessert Bar into an experiential Parisian cafe destination with treats inspired by Good Girl fragrances. Included in-store experiential activation, multi-channel marketing, gift with purchase, and branded elements.
• GlenmorangiecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGlenmorangie leveraged KOI's creativity for consumer and media events with a creative photoshoot. Campaign was amplified through Reynold's social channels and extended into KOI locations where consumers could taste the hero creation for four weeks.
• Kate Spade New YorkcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerKate Spade partnered with KOI on multiple occasions to create visually-stunning desserts with fragrance notes inspired by Kate Spade New York fragrances. Included shopping centre popup activation and gift with purchase.
• DisneyflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerDisney celebrated the launch of Frozen The Musical with a magical selection of custom desserts for Christmas, further amplified into Easter trading spanning multiple touchpoints.
• SensodynecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSensodyne campaign targeting 10.7 million Australians living with tooth sensitivity. Multi-channel campaign with two key dessert creations led by Head Chef Reynold Poernomo including in-store experiential activation, branded elements, and social competitions.
• Circa HomeminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCustom dessert development and in-store activation with branded elements and multi-channel marketing support for Australian home fragrance brand.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Magnolia Bakery: Iconic global premium cupcake and cake brand with boutiques across the US, Asia and Middle East; comparable to KOI on the celebrity-status, design-led boutique dessert café archetype.
• Dominique Ansel Bakery: Globally recognized Cronut-inventor premium pastry brand with flagship bakeries in NYC, London, Tokyo; comparable to KOI on celebrity-chef prestige, viral pastry innovation, and luxury brand collaborations.
• Angelina Paris: Heritage Parisian salon de thé known for its Mont-Blanc pastry and luxury tea-room experience with international boutiques; comparable to KOI on premium sit-down dessert café positioning and luxury brand adjacencies.

Direct peers

• LuxBite: Australian design-led patisserie and macaron specialist in Sydney offering premium cakes and dessert classes; a smaller-scale but directly comparable Australian premium-dessert peer.
• Lady M Cake Boutique: US-origin luxury mille-crepe cake boutique with boutiques across the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia; competes in the same premium cake-café category with a similar design-led, low-volume-per-SKU model.
• Black Star Pastry: Iconic Australian premium dessert café famous for its Strawberry Watermelon Cake; operates multi-location Sydney and Melbourne boutiques and is the closest direct comparable to KOI on premium cake-café model, design-led branding, and Asian-inspired flavor work.
• Mr. Holmes Bakehouse: Australia-origin premium, design-forward bakehouse built around an Instagram-friendly signature (the Cruffin) with a US flagship; comparable to KOI on viral-product-led premium positioning and limited-edition drops.
• Patissez: Australian premium dessert café with Instagrammable freakshakes and couture cakes, multi-city footprint, and a celebrity-founder story; competes head-to-head with KOI for the same affluent experience-seeking customer.
• LeTAO: Hokkaido-origin premium Japanese dessert brand famous for its double-fromage cheesecake with boutiques across Japan, Asia and Australia; the closest Japanese-inspired premium dessert comparable to KOI's Japanese flavor identity.
• Zumbo Patisserie: Celebrity Australian pastry brand built around Adriano Zumbo's MasterChef fame; offers sculptural designer cakes, patisserie, and dessert classes, directly mirroring KOI's celebrity-chef-driven premium positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/koidessertbar
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/koidb

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KOI Dessert Bar