Hitting the Sweet Spot

Despite rising concerns about sugar intake, our love for traditional sweets runs deep. Flavor and innovation have never been more important. Traditional sweets feature heavily in the Asian confectionery market. Their popularity has never waned—traditional sweets are both an important feature in everyday life and an entrenched part of religious and secular rituals. 

By Sharmila Rajah

Asian traditional sweets have long been celebrated for their richness and diversity—scented with saffron or rose water and filled with fruits, nuts, or spices; the combinations and variety of flavors and textures vary from each country and region.

The continued increase in the snacking trend has ensured the longevity of the traditional sweets category. But change is inevitable. Asian consumers are increasingly looking for value-added benefits in their traditional confectionery—with an uptick in demand for free form and lesser sugar options. Established markets like India and Japan are leading the way in this aspect with sweet makers rethinking new, innovative ways to satisfy market needs, from texture and visual appeal to taste and the demand for low sugar. Traditional confectionery brands are seeking out natural ingredients that not only reduce the need for artificial preservatives, but also add unique flavor, texture, and nutritional benefits to enhance consumer appeal. There is also a desire for new experiences and flavors in confectionery snacking. Dubai food and confectionery specialist BMB (Baklava Made Better) Group has acknowledged the demand for nutritious yet delicious traditional sweets. The brand offers traditional baklavas, as well as, sugar-free and gluten-free options in a range of flavors. 

It is interesting to note that many traditional Asian sweets are unintentionally vegan—their original recipes do not contain animal ingredients. Chinese desserts, for example, are of course sweet, but usually with less sugar content than those from the West. They also have a larger percentage of natural fruit ingredients. 

Even global brands have capitalized on the popularity of traditional sweets. In Japan, you can buy Kit Kat that tastes like green tea and in India, on supermarket shelves, you will find a kesar pista (a combination of fragrant saffron and earthly pistachios) Snickers bar. 

Indian Sweets

Central to the Indian culture is mithai or sweets, eaten alone or with a cup of chai as an afternoon or late-night snack. Made from simple ingredients like butter, milk, nuts, and spices using age-old techniques, they are typically given out in elaborate gift boxes during Diwali and other special occasions. The mithai industry is the oldest in the country—with the traditional sweets segment making up 65% of the country’s confectionery market. The Indian sweets market segment has shown promising growth despite the setback during Covid and is expected to continue an upward trajectory in the next few years. India’s packaged sweets market was worth USD639m in 2022. The market is expected to reach USD1840m by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 19.1% during 2023-2028. India exports its milk-based mithais to countries like China, Thailand, and the US. 

Some of the industry’s key players include Bikanervala Foods Private Limited, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited, Haldiram’s, Karnataka Co-operative Milk Producers Federation Limited (KMF), Lal Sweets Private Limited, Orissa State Co-operative Milk Producers Federation Limited (OMFED), Parag Milk Foods Limited, and Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers Federation Limited (TCMF).

India’s most popular traditional sweets: 

Gulab jamun: possibly the most popular dessert in India. Gulab jamuns are soft spongy balls, made from a flour and milk dough mix, fried and then soaked in syrup that’s flavored with saffron, rose water, and cardamom. They taste sweet and sugary and have a creamy texture; are often served hot and can be topped with vanilla or strawberry ice cream.

Jalebi: crispy orange swirls bursting with a treacle-like saffron-infused syrup and are best eaten hot. They are popular in the Northern states. 

Laddu: round, syrup-filled beads made of fried chickpea flour, wheat, and lentil flour, puffed rice, peanuts, sesame, and even grated coconut, and studded with pistachios or almonds and spiced with cardamom. Laddus can taste soft and moist or firm and crumbly and are most often offered as blessings to deities. 

Kaju katli: diamond-shaped and adorned with a gleaming silver leaf, kaju is made from cashew nuts, which lend it a very distinct and rich flavor. It is flat, dense, fudgy, and hugely popular in the North. 

Mysore pak: South India’s most iconic sweet that is made only with ghee (clarified butter), chickpea flour, and sugar. Rich and buttery. 

There is a definite shift towards spending more on indulgent foods among Indian consumers. They are also more discerning—seeking quality, variety, and customization. Post-pandemic, there is also an increased focus on health and safety. Indian manufacturers are adhering to local demand by producing sugar-free mithai and low-calorie mithai; some are even injecting experimental flavors and creating such mithais as Ferrero Rocher laddu. To resonate well with their expanding health-conscious consumer segment, ArqMithai, for instance, has incorporated walnuts into their recipes to create walnut barfi, walnut peda, and halwa sweets. Khauwala & Co. has reinvented the traditional laddu by launching a range of protein laddus with different ingredient combinations—Khauwala Protein, Whole Grain, and Seven Grains laddus—targeting their fitness-conscious consumer segment. 

You can read the rest of this article in the Spring issue of Asia Pacific Baker & Biscuit, which you can access by clicking here.