Confectionery items are eaten for indulgence rather than its health benefits. Indian sweet which is locally known as “Mithai” is a form of confectionery item usually made with milk, ghee, cottage cheese, sugar and various other ingredients. The ingredients might differ from one region to another but every bite of it makes one go weak on their knees.
Haldiram began its journey of manufacturing sweets and namkeem in the year 1937 and is now a major Indian sweet and snack manufacturer. Haldiram believes in keeping the traditional taste of India alive. It manufactures more than 100 different varieties of “Mithai” for its consumers like rasgulla, gulab jamun, mysore pak, orange burfee, petha, peda, rasmallai, soan papdi etc. These products are available in almost 80 different countries like UK, Canada, Germany, Middle East, etc.
The confectionery items have a short shelf life, so they need to be preserved with the help of some food preservation technology for it to reach wide variety of consumers all across the globe. So, in order to preserve these confectionery items without the addition of additives; freezing and high-temperature processing are the two widely used technologies by the food industry. These preservation techniques increase the shelf life of the product and at the same time maintains its sensory attributes. The frozen and heat processed products have a shelf life of around 18 months or more.
Since mithai is mostly made from milk and sugar, its preservation with the help of heat processing technology leading to excess caramelization or browning of the product which is not desirable in case of some products but in case of freezing no such issues are faced. Freezing, on the other hand, helps to tackle the issue of caramelization faced during heat processing but product damage due to large ice crystal formation while freezing is an issue. In order to avoid large ice crystal formation industry uses rapid freezing equipment like blast freezers and spiral freezers to freeze the food product as fast as possible in order to avoid physical damage of the product as rapid freezing leads to small ice crystal formation.
In today’s time frozen food is a boon as it ensures that your favorite food is available with its original taste and texture at any place and time. Frozen foods are well excepted and consumed in countries like USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Europe, Middle-East, Africa etc. The large market of frozen foods is outside India since Indians are still in the process of accepting of the concept of frozen foods.
These days’ consumers are trending more towards traditional sweet products made from natural sugars like jaggery and the ones which are less sugary. Sweets made from natural sweeteners like stevia are also popular these days since a large number of population is suffering from various other health issues like diabeties and obesity.
Consumption of energy bars made of dry fruits, nuts, cereals and jaggery is also trending amongst youngsters these days as it serves as a quick source of energy for them in their busy lifestyle.
Chocolate occupies a huge market share of the confectionery industry and it's market share is continuously increasing. Nuts and dry fruits coated chocolates have been really popular since a very long time and it continues to capture its market share. Hence, companies have started creating a fusion blend of mithai and chocolate such as coconut burfee or orange burfee coated with chocolate to attract consumers. People are quite open to trying new cuisines and are really appreciating the Gastronomy fusion of western items with Indian desserts. Certain products like gajjar halwa spring rolls, apple layered lasagna, Mango Risotto kheer, Rasmalai cake, Gulab jamoon pastries, Chocolate jamoon sandwich, kaju katli penacotta, are becoming popular dessert options in the various high-end restaurants.
At Haldirams as a brand we have always respected the traditions and sentiments of Indian culture with authentic traditional sweets, we also respected the upcoming market with our fusion products, we have always tried to give home food away from home to our customers across the globe.
In order to fight with the issue of micro-nutrient deficiency in developing countries amongst young children aged 4-6 years, candy fortification is practiced these days as candies are popular amongst children and affordable at the same time. Fortification of sugar candies is done with the help of vitamins and minerals like vitamin C, A, iron and folic acid.
The increasing global focus on nutrition means that more and more consumers are searching for guilt-free indulgence. However, market research has shown that for many this still remains a challenge: consumers, most of the time, feel guilty when they are snacking. Many people believe that there are not enough healthy sweets option available in the market. For such consumers, a team of scientists have created a healthier toffee variety by replacing 30 percent of the high glycemic sugars contained in a standard toffee recipe by a functional carbohydrate Palamitinose, supporting a lower blood glucose response as an alternative to existing toffee products available in the market, which can contain up to 65 percent of high glycemic sugars. While consuming these toffees consumers can enjoy the same taste of toffee and feel less guilty at the same time.
In the current era, consumers are becoming health conscious. This has created a challenge for the confectionery industry to innovate healthy sweet options which can satisfy the sweet tooth of the consumers without compromising with the taste.
