Home businesses witness big boom this Ganeshotsav
INDULGE From chocolate modaks to traditional food, there is a surge in orders this year
MUMBAI: Vaishali Malik, a homemaker, churns out about a 1,000 rice modaks a day during the Ganesh festival. She is based in Pune and transports the modaks to Mumbai, Nashik and within Pune with the help of relatives. She usually caters to orders from homes, but for the first time this year, she also received bulk orders from mandals.
ANSHUMAN POYREKAR/HT PHOTO Neeru
and Shraddha Mehra, whose chocolate-coated mawa modaks and bite-sized
brownies are in great demand during the Ganesh festival.
“For some mandals, I make 10-15 kg of prasad in a day,” she said. “This
is the busiest time of year for a home business like mine. I have to
refuse orders if I feel I won’t be able to make them, which usually
doesn’t happen at other times.”
“The first three days of the festival are usually the busiest, as most homes keep the idol for two and a half days,” said Peddar Road-based Neeru Mehra, who makes out-of-thebox items such as strawberry barfi modaks, chocolate-coated mawa modaks and bitesized brownies that can be used for prasad, under the brand name Neeru’s Desserts.
“People want something different now, so it takes a lot of
research and tasting to create new items before the season begins. But
it is worth it as there is roughly 75% more demand at this time of
year,” she said.
Manali Sheth, who runs Party Smarti in Lokhandwala, gets 2 to 3 orders in non-festive months, which rises to about 15 orders during festivals. The revenue is up by 70%. “I start getting orders a month before the Ganesh festival,” she said. “I shortlist extra items for my menu such as snacks that will last 10 days, and traditional food such as vegetable dhoklas, rawa idli and cutlets with different fillings.”
These businesses also hire more staff for this season, in order to manage the l arge number of orders. “A lot of festive orders are last-minute, so I have to be prepared with enough fresh stock,” said Deepti Chandani, who makes chocolate and cranberry modaks and chocolate fudge for Ganeshotsav in Khar, under the name Cocheta.
“While my mother and I make the sweets, we hire extra maids to help us with the packaging and decoration,” she said.
Manali Sheth, who runs Party Smarti in Lokhandwala, gets 2 to 3 orders in non-festive months, which rises to about 15 orders during festivals. The revenue is up by 70%. “I start getting orders a month before the Ganesh festival,” she said. “I shortlist extra items for my menu such as snacks that will last 10 days, and traditional food such as vegetable dhoklas, rawa idli and cutlets with different fillings.”
These businesses also hire more staff for this season, in order to manage the l arge number of orders. “A lot of festive orders are last-minute, so I have to be prepared with enough fresh stock,” said Deepti Chandani, who makes chocolate and cranberry modaks and chocolate fudge for Ganeshotsav in Khar, under the name Cocheta.
“While my mother and I make the sweets, we hire extra maids to help us with the packaging and decoration,” she said.
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