Female-founded bao and dumplings brand makes UK debut with London kitchen

Female-founded Bao and Dumplings brand Bun-dles has launched in the UK with headquarters in London, offering meat, sweet, and vegetarian options.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, founders Jenny Howson and Julie Lynch decided to swap their corporate careers after spotting a gap in the dim sum market.

Traditionally bao buns & dumplings, often referred to as ‘dim sum’, are hard to find outside of specialist shops and aren’t made fresh, often being packed with preservatives and additives to lengthen their shelf-life. Additionally, most dim sum foods require a steamer to be cooked, something not every household has.

Every bao and dumpling is handmade in their London kitchen by dim sum chefs, and supports local independent farmers, using 100 per cent British free-range meat in their meat options. The bao buns can also be cooked from frozen using just a microwave, making them available to everyone.

Customers can choose from a range of flavours, including Beef Rendang Bao and sweet Salted Custard Lava Bao. The company also offers a selection of vegan and vegetarian bao and dumplings, which are proving “incredibly popular, especially throughout Veganuary”.

Influenced by her upbringing in Malaysia, where food “played a huge part in her life”, Julie wanted to share her fond memories of Sunday lunches spent sharing dim-sum with family and friends with people across the UK.

However, starting a business during the pandemic proved challenging, as Julie comments: “It wasn’t straightforward launching with two very young children at home, let alone in the middle of a pandemic riddled with supply chain issues.”

“At times, it felt like an incredibly steep uphill climb in the road to launching during Covid-19. Julie had just had a baby, childcare was incredibly difficult to secure and there were sleep deprived nights of glueing packaging sleeves at 2am to meet orders!”