India to sweeten Rakshabandhan fest with packed mithais, chocolates: Kirana survey

Mumbai, Aug 29 (IANS) This Rakshabandhan could see consumers flocking to buy packed Indian ‘mithais’ (sweetmeats), chocolate boxes as the top favourites for the festival symbolising the bonds of love between brothers-sisters, falling on Wednesday, revealed a survey among the neighbourhood grocery shops across the country.

Conducted by the Kirana Club among 25,000 grocery shops, the survey, released here on Monday, found that besides the packed mithais and chocolate boxes, the next on the list of high-demand would be ‘namkeens’ (salty snacks) and ready-mixes.

Accordingly, the grocery stores are now stocking up these items ahead of the festival, including soan-papdi, pedhas, barfi, laddoos, gulab-jamuns, rasgullas, etc.

India has over 1.30 crore retail grocery stores ranging from the traditional brick-and-mortar local shops to swank modern retailers operating chains across the country.

The Kirana Club survey covered states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, said its founder Anshul Gupta.

Kirana outlets in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have given a thumbs up to Indian sweetmeats as the flavour of the season, while those in Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab and Delhi have opted for chocolate boxes as the next most coveted item.

Among cities, Indore, Jaipur and Lucknow people would crave for packed mithais, while the people of Pune, Nagpur, New Delhi, Gurugram, Patna, Panipat, Agra, Kanpur, Gopalganj, Meerut and Panchkula plan to gorge on chocolates.

The all-time favourites ‘namkeens’, ready-mixes and assorted biscuits shall also be moving quickly adding to the festive delight at the kirana shops and adorn festival tables at homes.

In fact, the mouth-watering dry ‘namkeens’ like chivda, bhujiya, sev, farsan, chips, mixes, etc. have been ranked among the top three categories by kirana shops in Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Incidentally, biscuits ranked lowest in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, while ready-mixes are at the bottom of popularity charts in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, and few would opt for packed sweetmeats in Delhi.

The Kirana Club has over 15 lakh grocers onboard in 10 states and 16,000 pincodes, besides several regional, national and international brands also active on the platform.