There
is
a huge potential to develop the sweets and snacks market in India into
a thriving food industry. What is needed is a serious effort to develop
the relevant technology to manufacture and package sweets and snacks
on a larger scale.
Barring
a few exceptions like ‘Das’ rosogollas of Kolkata or ‘Amul’s’
gulab jamuns of Vadodara, there are no factories that manufacture and
pack sweets on a large scale in a scientific manner, using proper technology.
The manufacturers who do produce sweets on a mass scale guard their
technology zealously, thus preventing its widespread development.
Market
potential
The domestic
market for sweets and snacks is believed to be small. This is far from
true. The impression has been created since the sweetmeats sector is
unorganised, and properly documented figures are rarely available. However,
the figures that are available, speak for themselves.
Take, for
instance, the quantity of sweets sold in only two cities–Delhi and Mumbai.
It is much more than the total sale of chocolates in the entire country!
A survey
by an international agency revealed that the sales of Indian sweets
and snacks were worth Rs 10,000 crore per year. This does not include
pickles and paapad, whose volumes are also very large. Even if it is
a conservative estimate, the figure is mind-boggling.
Jalebi
worth Rs 3-5 lakh is sold every morning in places like Delhi, Kanpur
and Agra, where the delicacy is a popular breakfast. Similarly, the
volume of channa products consumed in Bengal is large. Laddoos worth
crores of rupees are sold every day in the country. The quantity of
ganthia and phapda consumed in Gujarat and Rajasthan would make you
believe that there are at least 10 large food factories in the area
churning out the delicacies.
