How 'Aura by Sree' is winning over Dubai’s dessert lovers, one donut at a time

Dubai: What started as a simple love for desserts has turned into a full-fledged bakery story rooted in patience, experimentation, and a lot of late-night recipe testing.

Meet Sree, the founder of Aura by Sree, who turned her lifelong obsession with donuts into a brand that’s slowly building a loyal following across the UAE. “I’ve always loved desserts, especially donuts, so it was kind of a no-brainer” she shares.

After watching Aura by Sree pop up on my Instagram reels more times than I can count, stepping into the bakery felt a bit like walking into a place I'd already been. Sree, too, was exactly as she appears online, warm, smiley and effortlessly chatty, without feeling like she's 'on' for the camera.

It turns out the reels aren't a carefully curated version of the bakery; they're pretty much what you get in real life, just with the added bonus of fresh donuts.

From the outside, a donut looks simple. Flour, sugar, glaze, done. But Sree quickly learned that the real challenge is time.

“Donuts are a very complicated product,” she explains. “The bun has to be freshly made every day. Over time it can get hard or dry.”

That one detail changed everything. Instead of just focusing on flavour, she had to engineer softness that would last through the day, without compromising quality.

Then came the fillings. “We make all our fillings in-house, fresh fruits, real nuts, we turn them into pastes. It’s a process.”

Sree isn’t new to food businesses, her family founded the popular Malayalee restaurant chain Aaramam. But stepping into a bakery world was, in her words, “a completely different ball game.”

Running a sweets-focused brand demanded a different kind of attention to detail. Still, being a young entrepreneur came with an unexpected advantage. “There was excitement around what I was going to do,” she says. “People were supportive.” But excitement also brings pressure. “I felt like a lot of people were watching. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone.”

Like many first-time founders, Sree initially assumed expansion would be straightforward find a location, open a store, repeat. Reality checked that quickly. "I thought it would be super easy… but unfortunately it’s not like that.”

The biggest hurdle continues to be the product itself. “My product is a bit complicated. I’m still figuring out how to make it stay fresh for longer. Once I crack that, I’ll definitely expand.”

Before Aura even opened its doors, Sree was already online, sharing her journey. “I started posting just to spread awareness. But then I realised people actually enjoy following the process.”

What began as simple updates turned into a full-fledged marketing channel. “Every new flavour, every product, it became my way of showcasing what we do.”

Beyond sales, Sree values something deeper and that is community.

“It starts with awareness. People see the videos, then they make the effort to come, sometimes from Abu Dhabi or Sharjah. They try the product, and then they keep coming back.”

That shift from curiosity to loyalty is what she finds most rewarding. And it’s not just local. “I get messages from people in India, sharing ideas, saying ‘this worked for me.’ It’s this global connectivity that I love.”

In a world driven by viral food moments, Sree takes a different route. “I try to stay away from trends. They’re short-lived.” Instead, she focuses on originality. “I prefer creating my own trends, new products, new experiences, things that aren’t already in the market.”

For Sree, Aura isn’t just based in the city, it’s shaped by it. “I’m a Dubai kid,” she says. “I studied in the US but completed my education here. Starting something here feels close to home.”

She believes Dubai is uniquely suited for experimenting. “There’s literally everyone here. Different nationalities, age groups, there’s a market for everything. You just need to figure out how to reach them.”

That diversity, she says, became her unofficial focus group.

Behind the curated posts and soft-glazed donuts is a founder who’s been doing far too many jobs at once. “I’d hire a social media team from the start,” she admits. “I was trying to do everything, it was tough.” Now, her time is split between operations, product development, and content creation.

"The most rewarding thing is when people travel far just to try my donuts. No viral moment, no trend, just people showing up because something you made was worth the trip.