Our Journey
How it started...
As a linguist who has been fortunate enough to travel and live abroad, Abda found that in every country she visited she could see the unique culture’s heart and soul reflected in the countries’ food and drink.
In 2014, Abda started her business journey by setting up AB’s Bakery. AB’s Bakery started as a fusion bakery inspired by the techniques of Middle Eastern baking and the sophisticated flavours of European patisseries.
In a growing multicultural society, fusion is becoming an increasingly popular cuisine and felt there was a market for Middle Eastern fusion.
Abda felt there was something missing; her love of Argentinian Mate and Arabic Mint Tea spurred her on to open her travel themed coffee shop... bringing Abda’s to fruition - a speciality, cultural coffee shop in Northwich, Cheshire.
Abda aimed to provide great tea and coffee from around the world in a fun and comfortable environment, where everyone is welcome.
From there, we were on the up!
We quickly established a lovely little community amongst staff and customers. We have seen customers turn into friends and family and hope that everyone feels they can find a safe place at Abda.
After battling through numerous Covid-19 Lockdowns, takeaway only and endless restrictions, we were unfortunately hit by flooding in January 2021.
Our lovely little coffee shop was devastated. We lost everything but the coffee machine! This left us stripped right down to our sub floor and forced us to completely rebuild.
With your help, our wonderful staff were able to raise over £12K towards helping us recover. It’s frequently repeated, but we genuinely would not still be running businesses today without this support.
A new chapter... HALA
CAKE - CUISINE
In 2022, we founded our second business: HALA.
Named after and inspired by our Mama, Hala.
Over at Hala, we produced handcrafted chocolates, celebration cakes, wedding cakes and Cultural Fusion catering from scratch to original recipes.
Introducing...a second location!
CELESTE - HOLMES CHAPEL
Coffee Shop by day. Cocktail & Wine bar by night.
In February 2024, we opened our second location. We hope that Celeste can be a place that brings people together, where everyone and anyone is welcome, in memory and celebration of loved ones - whilst offering a unique sip of culture here in Cheshire.
Closing our doors in Northwich...
In September 2025, we made the difficult decision to close the doors of ABDA, Northwich - the place where so much of this story began. It was a space filled with memories: laughter over shared coffee, friendships formed, community strengthened. Saying goodbye was never going to be easy. But we see this not as an ending, but as a turning point.
ABDA lives on through cakes and catering, in our workshops, events and tastings, and in every conversation shared through our Past The Pour podcast.
We are moving forward by focusing on what we do best: creating spaces (physical and digital) where culture, community, and flavour come together.
Though our Northwich doors have closed, our journey continues - with you beside us.
Closing our doors in Northwich...
✨ Past the Pour ✨
Hosted by Abda Obeid-Findley & Sophie France
Each episode, we dive into coffee, culture, and conversations that go beyond our cups - exploring stories, traditions, and ideas that connect us all. Unpack why we've decided to close our beloved coffee, cake and culture dream - our coffee shop ABDA, in Northwich. Discussing the struggle to survive as an independent business, sacrificing culture and origins to fit in, and the changing dynamics of society.
And here we are!
Bringing our coffee, cake and culture TO YOU!
With a little rebrand to bring our HALA services back into our ABDA brand.