Shraddha (title modified) anticipated the acquainted style of chocolate burfi when she took a chunk — as a substitute, her palate was met with sea salt, wealthy Belgian chocolate, and a whisper of espresso. “It’s identical to the mithai Papa used to convey from (native sweetmeat vendor) Anand khakha — solely fancier,” she says with fun.
Throughout Indian cities, conventional treats are getting a classy improve by the hands of a bunch of startups akin to India Candy Home, GoDesi, and Hatti & Giraffe.
Anand Ramanathan, companion—shopper merchandise and retail sector chief, Deloitte India, explains that the resurgence of curiosity in mithai amongst youthful shoppers is fuelled by a mix of cultural nostalgia and fashionable reinterpretation.
“Mithai, historically related to festivals and household gatherings, is being rediscovered as a life-style indulgence. Startups are tapping into this sentiment by providing artisanal variations of traditional sweets, usually with a recent twist in flavour, presentation, and packaging.
“The rise of social media and influencer-driven content material has additionally made mithai extra seen and aspirational, particularly when positioned as a premium, clean-label product that aligns with evolving well being and aesthetic preferences,” he says.
The entire addressable market (TAM) for the mithai business in India is projected to succeed in ₹84,300 crore by 2025.
Demand sometimes surges throughout festivals, which account for practically 70 per cent of annual gross sales.
Valued at ₹6,229 crore in 2023, the packaged sweets section is predicted to the touch ₹25,970 crore by 2030.
Market intelligence platform Tracxn stories that India’s new-age sweets startups secured over $43.12 million funding between 2020 and 2025. Funding peaked in 2024 at $40.7 million throughout three rounds. It stands at $152,644 to this point this yr.
Do-it-yourself-plus
Hatti & Giraffe, a Mumbai-based luxurious mithai and namkeen model, was launched in 2019.
“Our preliminary merchandise have been no matter I grew up consuming at dwelling. We began with the anti-dessert laadu, product of dry fruits. It has no refined sugar and the sweetness comes from dry dates and natural jaggery. Then adopted the Crackling Besan Barfi, one in all our hottest merchandise, made with freshly grated coconut, natural jaggery, and a touch of contemporary ginger. The third was the Konkani Coconut Wadi — one thing that’s arduous to seek out even in candy retailers,” says Shrikar Bhave, a co-founder.
The recipes — the primary two from his mom and the third from his spouse and co-founder Girija’s grandmother — got a tweak, he says. Of their 15 SKUs, that are bought countrywide, 12 are designed for international transport with an extended shelf life.
Vinay Kothari, founding father of GoDesi, believes that the entry of world packaged meals manufacturers triggered a change in shopper behaviour.
Indian or desi merchandise from native gamers couldn’t match the branding and shopper expertise of those international gamers, he says.
“We wished to shine a lightweight on the unorganised cottage business. Some regional merchandise are preservative-free, don’t have any synthetic colouring or flavours, and are suited to the Indian palate. However they weren’t standardised. Our mission assertion is to make desi in style amongst Gen Z and concrete shoppers,” he says.
The corporate’s flagship product is Desi Pops — an Indian tackle the lollipop, made with jaggery and fruit pulp, minus added colors. GoDesi produces 60 lakh pops a month.
Different merchandise embody single-serve barfi, coconut-and-jaggery ladoo, and a chocolate-like kaju katli bar.
India Candy Home got down to revive conventional delicacies that have been disappearing from city markets. “Our current launch of chandrahara exemplifies this. For many years, this candy was confined to an unique circle, with meals connoisseurs making pilgrimages to expertise it. We’re increasing that entry to bridge the hole between heritage recipes and modern shoppers who worth custom but in addition count on high quality and accessibility,” says Shwetha Rajashekar, a co-founder of India Candy Home.
Echoing this, GoDesi’s Kothari says the differentiation startups provide vis-a-vis legacy manufacturers is comfort, particularly by means of on-line gross sales.
Showcasing heritage
Sameer Seth, founder and CEO of Starvation Inc Hospitality — the agency behind in style eating places akin to The Bombay Canteen, O Pedro, Veronica’s, and Papa’s — says Bombay Candy Store was launched to supply conventional Indian sweets reimagined with a singular twist.
The model’s hottest product is a chocolate field impressed by sohan halwa. It incorporates a skinny butterscotch layer that captures the essence of the normal candy, enrobed in darkish chocolate, sea salt, and roasted almonds.
Katli Bites has a base of kaju katli, topped by a wealthy dark-chocolate ganache.
Positioned in Mumbai’s Byculla, the agency’s 5,000 sq ft manufacturing facility is open to guests, who can watch the sweets being made, store, and pattern merchandise contemporary from the kitchen.
“We travelled the size and breadth of India, understanding how conventional mithai is made… We attempt to convey that storytelling to life, together with the components used, and the folks behind it,” Seth says.
Promoting factors
GoDesi’s merchandise can be found on fast commerce and e-commerce platforms, offline shops, and at 50 kiosks throughout Bangalore. Practically 40 per cent of its gross sales are offline.
Bombay Candy Store has darkish shops and bodily shops in Mumbai, and ships nationwide.
India Candy Store’s omni-channel method contains 45 shops throughout Karnataka. The Indian diaspora types a major chunk of its buyer base, alongside company and different bulk orders, and wedding ceremony and competition gifting.
Fund circulation
In October final yr, India Candy Home secured $1 million pre-IPO funding from Viney Fairness Market LLP.
GoDesi raised ₹41 crore from Aavishkaar Capital in a Sequence B spherical in Might 2024. Two years earlier, it had raised ₹31 crore from Rukam Capital, Roots Ventures, and DSG Shopper.
Archana Jahagirdar, founder and Managing Accomplice, Rukam Capital, says, “The Indian sweets and snacks class is present process a metamorphosis, with a robust potential for worth creation. Whereas freshness, scalability, and logistics stay challenges, manufacturers that make investments early in backend efficiencies, provide chain innovation, and product R&D are higher positioned to scale sustainably.
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Revealed on June 22, 2025
