Fusion sweets, artisanal desserts & chocolates in vogue this Diwali

Mumbai: Never mind pistachio prices, which have gone nuts, or the price volatility in items such as cocoa and coconut pushing up costs, Indians are looking beyond traditional mithai and spending on fusion sweets, artisanal desserts and chocolates this Diwali.

White chocolate aam papad barfi, Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs, Pistache et boondi (a sweet dish) are among items that are in huge demand this year.“There has been a slight increase in price on products featuring pistachios, such as our Saffron Pistachio Fudge, Pistache et boondi, and our newly launched layered cake made with boondi, milk cake, and kataifi pistachio. This revision is directly aligned with the increased cost of sourcing pistachios.“With pistachio desserts going viral on social media, following the Dubai Viral Pistachio Kunafa chocolate, we are also seeing a lot more demand for these flavours,” said Dipti Sawalka, founder at Varak, a gourmet sweet brand based in Kolkata.Indians, many of whom have a sweet tooth, do not mind paying for fancy sweets during Diwali, a festival incomplete without mithai. Demand for assorted sweet boxes and hampers including a mix of sweets and savouries shoot up during the season.

The GST cut on sweets and chocolates to 5% has helped a bit in compensating for higher input prices.Alpa Pereira, founder and head chef at Toujours said that its chocolate and pistachio dessert Taash has been a bestseller, along with Gourmet Trio Box and Festive Hamper. “The recent GST reduction from 18% to 5% has allowed us to offset the rise in input costs. We’ve been seeing a steady rise in the cost of almost all key raw materials from cocoa and pistachios to butter and dry fruits,” said Pereira.Premium gifting boxes are performing particularly well, said Sid Mathur, founder at Delhi’s Khoya Mithai. “Consumers are gravitating toward curated hampers that combine traditional mithai with a modern twist, such as rose-and-chocolate kaju katli, white chocolate aam papad barfi, and Medjoul date bars, along with savouries and Khoya Bars,” he said, adding that there’s also a growing preference for health-conscious options without compromising on flavour or presentation.

For the company, the most popular gift hampers this season are priced between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000.Choko La’s edible firecrackers box (chocolates shaped as firecrackers) are completely sold out and the firm is increasing production projections every week. This is despite the brand raising prices of its (overall) products by 10-15% due to a steep increase in cost of cocoa earlier this year.There is a growing shift toward gifting experiences and artisanal desserts rather than just traditional sweets. “Our luxury chocolate boxes, White Chocolate With Roasted Pistachio, and Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs are doing exceptionally well this season. Consumers are moving toward smaller, elegant gift packs and customised assortments, a preference for premium, thoughtful gifting over volume-based purchase,” said Rahul Bajaj, director of Le Sutra Hospitality.