How New-Age Snack Brands are Approaching Festival Snacking in India

We have all grown up watching the Bhide family from Taarak Mehta ka Oolta Chashmah share til ladoos at the society’s annual kite-flying festival, saying, “til gud kha, god god bola”. More recently, viral reels of BiggBoss Fame Khanzaadi’s iconic “pitha bana ke do mujhe” have taken over Instagram, with Assamese creators joining the bandwagon as Bhogali Bihu excitement reaches a fever pitch. India’s festival calendar has always been inextricably linked to food, with each celebration demanding its own repertoire of traditional delicacies.

From Pongal's sweet rice dishes in Tamil Nadu to Bhogali Bihu's elaborate pithas in Assam, and Makar Sankranti's til-gur preparations across North India, these labour-intensive treats were once the exclusive domain of home kitchens. Today, a new generation of snack brands is reimagining this landscape, bridging the gap between nostalgia and convenience whilst preserving authenticity.

The Indian snacks market, valued at Rs. 46,571.3 crore in 2024 and projected to reach Rs. 1,01,811.2 crore by 2033, is witnessing an 8.63% compound annual growth rate, according to IMARC Group predictions. Within this expansion, festival-specific products are emerging as a significant driver, with traditional snacks commanding a decisive 56% of market volume.

Sweet Karam Coffee, a South Indian-focused brand, exemplifies this shift. "The vision of Sweet Karam Coffee has always been to take the taste & tales of South India to the Globe & Pongal being a key South Indian festival we wanted to ensure we create something special for our consumers to join us in celebrating," the brand states. "We realized that the complexity of preparation or the lack of time was becoming a barrier for many. That is why we came up with a Pongal Kit that is very easy to use, such that anyone can prepare it, ensuring absolutely no one is left out from celebrating this harvest festival."

This impulse, preserving ritual whilst easing access, resonates across regions. Speaking about Makar Sankranti, Vijay Kumar Ajay Kumar Garg, a legacy gajak and chikki maker who recently put their complete gajak and chikki and other snack catalogue on quick commerce platforms, notes, "Earlier, gajak was made collectively in neighbourhoods, with families waiting for the right winter temperature. Today, nuclear families still crave that jaggery-sesame flavour, but they don't have the time or space. Our responsibility is to deliver the same bite, brittle, warm, and fragrant, without diluting its soul. Our introduction to quick commerce platforms has increased our demand and sales wonderfully, in ways we couldn’t have done, at least not pan-India."

For AssamYumm, a hyperlocal brand focused on snackables around Assamese culinary traditions like Jolpan, Pithas, Nimkis, festival demand tells a deeper story. "This Bhogali Bihu, our orders have increased three-fold," the brand shares. "People aren't just buying pitha as food, they're buying it as a memory, as reassurance that even if they're far from Assam, the festival still arrives on their plate. That viral Instagram audio which has now become a frenzy of reels from Assamese creators across India about craving pithas from home, we are trying to fill that craving gap for everyone across India."

The Data Behind Festival Demand

Festival periods represent a goldmine for snack manufacturers, with consumption patterns revealing fascinating shifts in Indian buying behaviour. Sweet Karam Coffee reports selling "the most number of Mysorepaks on Diwali day across all our channels, becoming a nationwide favourite." The brand notes that whilst there's "an uptick in snacks, the biggest spike we see is undoubtedly in sweets."

Quick commerce platforms witnessed explosive growth, with Instamart reporting 3.5 times growth in Rakhi orders and an eight-fold rise in hampers and sweets. Zepto saw a 150% increase in order volumes during festive periods. The Dussehra-Diwali season accounts for nearly 20% of annual revenue for many festive snack brands, whilst 67% of consumers now identify makhanas and dry fruits as preferred choices.

"Sweet Karam Coffee is very much a data-led firm, demand is predicted, warehouse availability is measured, and delivery timelines are pre-fixed," the brand explains. The embrace of quick commerce has been transformative. "We have also embraced Quick Commerce to scale our distribution, giving consumers the chance to participate in any festival even at the eleventh hour, ensuring that no matter how busy the lifestyle, no one has to miss out on the joy of the festival," Sweet Karam Coffee notes. 

The Gargs sees a similar evolution in North Indian winter snacks. "Gajak is no longer sold loosely in newspapers alone. Customers today want hygiene, traceability, and packaging they can gift with pride, but they still expect the jaggery to crack the same way it always did."

The Future of Festive Snacking: Clean Labels, Cultural Authenticity and Glocal Roots

Today's festival snacker is discerning, demanding both authenticity and transparency. "Festival snacking is evolving from 'Mindless Indulgence' to 'Conscious Nostalgia'," observes Sweet Karam Coffee. "Consumers are no longer just buying sweets; they are buying memories, and they are increasingly reading the back of the pack before doing so. They want the rich, authentic taste of their childhood, but they demand it be free from the industrial 'nasties' like Palm Oil and preservatives."

This shift towards health-conscious festival snacking is evident across segments. The healthy snacks market in India, valued at USD 4,123.1 million in 2024, is expected to reach USD 8,156.5 million by 2033. Fifty-eight per cent of consumers express strong preferences for natural and wholesome ingredients, according to IMARC reports.

Brands are responding by "refusing to 'innovate' the soul out of our food," as Sweet Karam Coffee puts it. "Instead, we are innovating in our commitment to clean ingredients, ensuring our ingredient list looks exactly like what you would find in a grandmother's kitchen." Gargs reflects this sentiment, "People ask where our jaggery comes from now. That question itself shows respect, not suspicion." AssamYumm echoes this, "When customers ask who made their pitha, we know tradition is alive." For AssamYumm, storytelling is inseparable from geography. "Our role is not to modernise the pitha beyond recognition, but to help it travel, safely, respectfully, to new kitchens."

The trajectory of India's festival snacking industry points towards another intriguing paradox: becoming more global whilst remaining deeply local. International orders from the Indian diaspora are growing, with brands fulfilling deliveries across continents. Sweet Karam Coffee notes: "We also receive international orders from the Indian diaspora, which we fulfil through our own website & ensure timely delivery. This way, we stick to our goal of taking the taste and tales of South India to the globe."

This global appetite for authentic Indian festival snacks represents a market extending far beyond domestic shores. India added 125 million online shoppers in three years, with another 80 million expected by 2025. The e-commerce market is anticipated to reach $200 billion by 2026, according to IMARC Group reports, providing the digital backbone for festival snack brands to reach consumers wherever they are.

"Ultimately, the cheat code is to stay as close to consumers as possible, understand them, listen to them, and make the products for them," Sweet Karam Coffee concludes. The democratisation of tradition through commercial channels doesn't signal the end of home-made festival foods but rather their evolution, ensuring that festival traditions, whether Pongal, Bihu, or Makar Sankranti, remain vibrant, accessible, and deeply meaningful for generations to come.