The Rise Of Chocolate In The Indian Culture

Sweets are an inimitable and inevitable part of most rites and rituals in Indians culture. Not just in traditional rituals, even a meal is incomplete without a dessert of sweetmeats. The most popular sweets have traditionally been rasagulla, gulab jamuns, gajar halwa, kulfi, etc. These sweets are predominantly made using milk or its products and some other ingredients like flour. Different parts of the country boast of different kinds of sweets and each region has its own specialty in sweets. There had hardly been any scope for confectionery like chocolate, candy or lollipops in the culture scape of the country. However the globalization of the country and the universal appeal of chocolate has changed the scenario totally.

The influx of chocolate into Indian households started with confectionery products aimed at children. Major world-players like Nestle and Cadbury provided chocolate in various forms like bars, drinks, ice creams and whatnot.  There were other sugar based products also available in various flavors and colors in all sorts of shapes and sizes too. Every region boasted of their own small time manufacturers who would supply their products to their own regional wholesalers and retailers only. None of them had achieved the nationwide recognition or acceptance. None seem to have tried to expand beyond their regional boundaries either.

It was only the global players who were able to carve a niche for themselves in the Indian market. In the past decade or so, these smart confectionery manufacturers have come up with novel gifting ideas that fit into the Indian customs and traditions. Nowadays, during the auspicious festival of Diwali, instead of the customary box of milk pedhas, a chocolate hamper or box from Cadbury is sent to relatives and distributed among friends. For the festival of Rakshabandhan which celebrates the bond between brother and sister, instead of the laddoo or other sweets, you will find chocolates in the traditional thali. More often than not, the brother’s return gift would be a box of chocolates too.

Such is the favor that chocolates and other confectionery products have found with the Indian masses that entrepreneurs are entering this fascinating industry. These first-generation chocolate manufacturers in India are looking at nationwide acceptance and recognition of their products. To this effect they are tying up with globally renowned chocolate manufacturers like Swiss, German and Italian companies. One such enterprising conglomerate in India is the Rajhans (Desai-Jain) group, which has forayed into this interesting domain with high ideals and higher aims.

They already have plans in place to manufacture world-class chocolates in collaborations with a premium Swiss Confectionery brand. If you need more information about the confectionery wing of the Rajhans conglomerate, log in to: http://www.rajhans.co.in/confectionary.aspx.