Diwali Gifting Goes Luxe as Premium Mithai Boxes Touch INR 21,000

Sweetmakers and hotel groups are turning festive mithai into a premium gifting category with gold foil, fusion flavours and elaborate packaging.

India’s mithai market is getting a luxury makeover this Diwali. Sweetmakers and hospitality groups are launching premium festive collections built on expensive ingredients, modern flavours and elaborate packaging, with some boxes priced as high as INR 21,000.

Brands are pitching these sweets as aspirational gifts for family, friends, corporate contacts and affluent buyers. Premium mithai is still a small niche in India’s vast sweets market, which leaves a lot of room to grow.

Traditional sweets, luxury positioning

Khoya Mithai, Almond House, Arq Mithai, Ikai and Bombay Sweet Shop are among the brands widening their festive ranges, pairing familiar sweets with premium ingredients and modern twists.

Khoya Mithai has launched a box of 30 pista katlis finished with 24-karat gold foil at INR 21,000. Its festive range also includes jaggery-sweetened kaju katli and dry-fruit laddoos. Beyond the ingredients, designed boxes and curated assortments help these brands stand apart from ordinary sweet shops.

According to industry estimates cited by Mint, luxury sweets may make up as little as 0.5% of India’s INR 84,310-crore sweets market, so this remains an emerging segment rather than a mainstream one.

Individual buyers lead the demand

Corporate gifting matters, but individual consumers are a major source of demand. Khoya Mithai founder and director Sid Mathur told Mint that corporate orders rose 10–15% year on year, while individual buyers remain the brand’s strongest segment. The two months around Diwali reportedly bring in 35–40% of its annual revenue. Some individual customers order dozens of boxes.

For brands, the task is to make premium mithai relevant to more gifting occasions while keeping the exclusivity that supports high prices.

Hotels join in

Hotel groups are using their culinary reputations to sell sweets beyond their properties.

• Meetha by Radisson, launched in 2020, now offers traditional mithai, contemporary sweets, dry fruits, savouries and premium hampers. Its festive range includes a 36-piece box at INR 3,999.
• Mithai by Roseate mixes traditional sweets with modern flavours and alternative sweeteners, with offerings such as Biscoff barfi and mango thandai peda. A 16-piece assortment costs around INR 2,000, and the brand has opened a standalone outlet at Delhi’s Aerocity.
• ITC Hotels is pursuing the gifting opportunity through its Ritvah brand and Fabelle chocolates.

For hotels, packaged sweets extend their food identity into retail and gifting.

Innovation as an edge

Brands are experimenting with flavours, ingredients and formats. Chocolate-inspired barfis, fruit-infused pedas, gold-finished sweets and dry-fruit delicacies show how tradition is being adapted to modern tastes. Some brands also highlight natural sweeteners and preservative-conscious recipes. Packaging and curation reinforce the idea that these are considered gifts, not routine festive purchases.

A small segment with room to grow

Growth will depend on whether brands can win repeat buyers beyond Diwali, expand distribution and keep quality steady as demand rises. Corporate gifting, weddings and other celebrations offer further openings for curated hampers.

This Diwali shows how a deeply rooted tradition can be repositioned through branding, product innovation and experience. The challenge for sweetmakers and hotel groups is turning seasonal excitement into lasting demand.

Source: Mint. Market estimates and brand details are attributed to its reporting.