Owner ‘grateful’ that unique food business continues to ‘thrive’ among its growing Northampton community

An owner is “grateful” that her unique food business continues to “thrive” among the growing Northampton community that continues to support what she does.

Fashion Bake brought frozen homemade dumplings and bao buns to the town at a time when no one else was offering them.

The products, which are available to shop in meal kits, can be cooked quickly from home or shopped fresh when Fashion Bake attends events in their food van.

The business is the brainchild of Jessica Ly, who started this journey in March 2020 when she was made redundant from a job in London.

As dumplings were a staple in her household, Jessica knew there was the potential to sell them frozen for others to enjoy as much as she did.

The business owner, who grew up in Weston Favell, is the proud daughter of Vietnamese refugees.

Though her parents’ homes may have been displaced throughout generations, one thing that has remained the same is the food on their table.

The dumplings and bao buns sold by Fashion Bake represent Jessica’s family’s journey from Vietnam to Hong Kong, and now where they reside in the UK. The business owner’s biggest inspiration, along with her parents, is her late grandfather.

Fashion Bake is still run from Jessica’s home, which is where it all began when it launched in Northampton in September 2020.

Jessica first attended Bite Street in July 2021, before she got her own food van a year later and has sold at a growing number of mobile events since.

As her parents have always been involved in the food industry as chefs, and even had a takeaway van of their own 30 years ago, this was Jessica’s “full circle moment”.

Though Jessica is the founder, her mother helps her make the bao buns – which she has refined and perfected for the past 25 years – and her partner assists at events.

Jessica was proud to expand Fashion Bake’s offering in 2023, with her first ever dumpling workshop. This corporate session taught attendees all about dumplings and how to make them.

“I’d always wanted to do this but never had time as we’re so busy with events,” Jessica told the Chronicle & Echo, while expressing her gratitude for this opportunity in November last year.

The business even ventured outside of Northampton in the latter half of last year. Having attended Digbeth Dining Club twice, which is one of the biggest street food events in the UK, Jessica says it is “amazing” to create another community elsewhere.

She added: “People who tried our food the first time came back especially for us the second time. Building from the ground up, I didn’t know how it would turn out but it’s been really well-received.”

The business owner’s proudest achievement of 2023 was to keep going. “It’s really hard running a business, especially as a female owner,” said Jessica. “It comes with lots of challenges but we’ve kept it alive and thriving.”

Another highlight was filming a short documentary on the story of Fashion Bake and how the business has got to where it is today, which will be released later this year.

The documentary showcases Jessica’s family history and speaks fondly of her grandfather, who remains a “huge inspiration”.

Jessica, concluding her 2023 achievements, said: “Continuing to grow the community. We have such an amazing community in Northampton already, but more people know and hear about us now. The same faces buy our food time and time again.”

The business owner wanted to express gratitude to her customers and how they have enabled Fashion Bake to both sustain and grow.

On the flip side, one of the business’ biggest challenges has been the increase in prices – making it a challenge to strike the balance between providing quality food and keeping it at an affordable and accessible price.

“It’s also been finding the balance of running a business and being a human,” said Jessica. “You’ve got to fill your own cup to give to others. I put my mental and physical health first last year and it’s boosted business as I can give a lot more.”

Talking of the importance of supporting independent businesses this year, Jessica says everyone is “struggling and feeling the pinch”.

She ensures she supports local independents through her shopping and eating habits, as she believes it is important to spend within the community to see it reinvested.

On the cards for Fashion Bake in 2024 are more dumpling workshops, with the first two planned for the coming week. As these sessions sold out in just 24 hours, Jessica is eagerly looking to pencil more in.

Despite hoping to get other pop-ups and events in the diary, Jessica said: “I’m not in a hurry, I’m enjoying where we are.”

The team took on their first corporate lunch this week, in which they cooked outside the truck and delivered the prepared food. This is something Jessica wants to continue tapping into moving forward.

For more information on Fashion Bake, you can visit their Facebook page here.