From Engineering to Confectionery: How Badr El Adraoui Built MeltsWell

The eye of an engineering major was the first to spot an overlooked niche, a cultural airball and hidden industry in the folds of social media: home-based sweet creators. Built on a true love for sweets that seemed to go unnoticed in his traditional experiences, and an affinity for exploring new confections with his loved ones, Badr El Adraoui created MeltsWell, a home-based sweet creator database that tempts us all to invite a little more sweetness into our lives.

From Idea to Inclusion

Starting from a simple market observation and connecting it to his personal love for confectionery, Badr found an opportunity to revolutionize how sweet creators reach their customers. He was initially offered the chance to build a SaaS solution with a Moroccan restaurant owner that would help restaurants digitise their menus via QR codes, but Badr wasn't quite interested in that direction.

"I was still interested in the concept, but after thinking about it for a few days, I decided to pivot to a different niche: sweets. I love sweets and snacks, and whenever I go out with friends, I always try to find something new."

Soon, the idea that would later come to be known as MeltsWell began taking shape.

"I noticed on my Instagram feed that many small sweet businesses lack visibility. I decided to build a platform that brings them all together in one place."

The Height of It

It became clear that sweets as a whole were quite disregarded in Morocco: neglected by investors, underrated and definitely underappreciated. It was a point of wonder for someone like Badr, who saw restaurant-oriented delivery apps like Glovo, which had only entered the market a few years earlier, booming with success while sweet creators struggled to make themselves known, let alone become fan favorites.

So, he began working.

"At first, two of my friends helped me test out the initial app and give feedback. One of them loved baking and trying new trends. We started brainstorming names and decided to build a web application first to validate the concept before moving forward."

Before long, the very first draft of MeltsWell was alive. Originally, the entire database was supposed to be built on a leaderboard based on sweet creators' monthly recurring revenue, with creators ranked on their engagement scores and the quality of their offerings.

However, it became clear that there was more work to be done.

"One major challenge I faced was technical development and unexpected bugs on the web app. I also spend significant time gathering user feedback to improve the onboarding process."

Onboarding is critical: if there is too much friction, vendors will drop off. So the features developed. Where sweet creators previously had to add products manually, features like QR code scanning now let them set up easily on their device.

These features broadened further into branded public pages for products and direct orders, with no marketplace commission or setup fees, and a focus on 100% halal-compliant vendors.

MeltsWell's Motto

Despite his ambition and MeltsWell's allure, Badr wants to keep the platform accessible. With affordable pricing plans, free packages, a commitment to improving through feedback and growing demand, MeltsWell has proven itself to be a product of the people.

"I want MeltsWell to be known as the go-to discovery platform for finding unique, independent, small sweet businesses. Small-batch home bakers and artisans often deliver far better quality and consistency than mass-production commercial pastry shops, and our platform gives them the visibility they deserve."

MeltsWell aims to be a mark of quality over quantity, helping people see more sweetness in their daily lives without compromising on convenience.

Expansion

Despite an already remarkable journey, neither MeltsWell nor Badr is done yet. The current focus is on perfecting the platform's features and incorporating feedback in Morocco. Once that development is complete, MeltsWell plans to expand not just to neighbouring countries but across the GCC and the wider MENA region, a massive market for small, independent halal sweet businesses.

An app is also in active development for both iOS and Android. It will include the current features alongside newer, more refined experiences for sweet creators and customers alike, including an upcoming feature called MeltSwipe: an interface where customers swipe right to save, swipe left to skip and tap for more details to order, without having to browse through every individual storefront.

MeltsWell has proven itself to be a pioneer of its kind, and an inspiration that a true fondness for anything can lead to new ideas and change. A one-of-a-kind confectionery complement that aims to bring a smile to your day.

Visit their website: meltswell.com