The Outstanding Mithai Competition

WMNC 21, Jaipur

In a nutshell, healthy competition is the interaction between individuals or businesses that supports and fosters striving for better achievements while also creating an environment in which everyone in the group wants that everyone does well rather than wishing that others fail.

One significant advantage of competition is that it stimulates innovation. Competition among companies can spur the invention of new or better products, or more efficient processes. Competition can also help businesses identify consumers’ needs and then develop new products or services to meet them.

The virtues of competition

• lowers costs and prices for products and services,

• offers better quality,

• provides more choices and variety,

• invents more innovation,

• gives greater efficiency and productivity,

• promotes development and growth,

Mithai and namkeen industry is no exception where competition is concerned. There is constant upgradation in product-making, better mixing and blending of ingredients offering healthy products to the consumers giving them ‘n’ number of options and choices. There is always something new in sweets and snacks. If one producer has made any sweet or savoury form, then others always remain in quest to what the possible recipe could be!! And this is that competition which helps to bring new products in market. While some recipes are hard to find, others take the credit of innovation.

Similar gathering was perceived at the happenings of mithai competitions at WMNC’21 Jaipur, where there was a tough competition between the contestants to steal the show while there were 1^st & 2^nd runner ups too. As said mentioned above, the competition was so arranged as a healthy one and not to demean others.

Here, we are happy to present the synopsis of the contest for our readers who could not make to the dais. The competition was organized by Federation of Sweets & Namkeen Manufacturers (FSNM) in collaboration with US Cranberries India.

Prior to the event, all the participants were sent samples of US cranberries and were instructed to prepare pre-made genuine and inventive mithais and namkeen dishes utilizing the delivered samples. The prepared mithai and namkeen were evaluated by the jury, on flavour, presentation, and originality.

The regulations and conditions stipulated that no other fruits or fruit pulps may be used with US cranberries, and the competition’s concept centered around the dish’s principal component. Additional than US cranberries, no other nuts or dried fruits were allowed in the recipes, and the basic material stayed the same. Even if some are created, they should have a unique twist or new fusion.

A Pointer from The Jury at Mithai Competition

India office of US Cranberry Marketing Committee participated in World Mithai and Namkeen Convention and Expo 2021 as a “Platinum Partner” for the first time.

We were very happy with our participation and we generated good volume of business enquires as an exhibitor.

We also conducted a US Cranberry Mithai competition that was coordinated by the organizers of World Mithai and Namkeen Convention. We were overwhelmed by the response received, not just the number of participants but also the quality of participation. It was amazing to see the top Mithai and Namkeen manufacturers from across India take part enthusiastically in the competition. We were also honoured that celebrated Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi was a judge for the competition. He was also pleasantly surprised by the quality of the participation.

The World Mithai and Namkeen Convention team has handled the exhibition very well. It was professionally managed and excellently attended. We look forward to participating in future events as well.

U.S. Cranberry is a perfect addition in traditional Indian Mithai and Namkeens and we hope partnering with the initiatives of Federation of Sweets & Namkeen Manufacturers, we will be able to increase the penetration of this beautiful and healthy product – Cranberries.

It was a fantastic experience for me to serve on the jury for the US Cranberry Competition. It was a great idea for the mithai industry to try out new ingredients with their products.

There is always space for improvement. I have a few recommendations for both the contestants and the jury system, which are stated below:

For participants: –

Participants should be given rules for utilising ingredients that specify that the flavour, taste, and colour of the substances used in goods should take precedence, and that the Indian flavour should be kept intact. Additionally, some standard boxes for product display should be needed at the time of review. These boxes, which should not be brand-specific, should be provided to the attendees.  The product must be displayed in front of the jury along with the unique code printed on the boxes for identification purposes.

For jury members: –

There should also be some product evaluation rules for jury members as well. Product evaluation should be based on sensory parameters such as appearance, colour, smell / odour, texture, flavour / aroma, taste, and so on, so that products may be rated individually based on these parameters.

It was a fantastic experience to witness the overwhelming response from the various participants to integrate cranberries into the ethnic sweet industry. It demonstrated the manufacturers’ ingenuity in determining the compatibility of this exotic fruit in various ways and combinations. The variety of samples demonstrated the value addition by combining the therapeutic properties of the fruit with popular ingredients of ethnic sweets, providing the masses with a new range of products with more medicinal and health benefits. Such concepts should be promoted more aggressively by promoters in order to raise awareness among the creative industries (which abound under the FSNM umbrella) and provide the ultimate benefits to mass consumers.

Hats off to the innovative idea under the flagship of FSNM.

Coming here and participating in WMNC has been a great experience to be out of the house after 2 years. We can practically notice a lot of changes that have lately occurred. Not only have we brought about changes in ourselves, but the whole hospitality sector has undergone significant upheaval. And today, in the place where I am standing today, is an excellent platform of mithai and namkeen.

Arriving to the expo has made me realize that we have not only introduced innovations to hotels and their kitchens, but I can see innovation in the tiniest sweets shops, innovation in namkeens, and I believe that innovation is the KING now. Here, US Cranberries conducted a mithai competition in which the federation called me to be a judge, and it is here that we are seeing many mithais with innovation, which were not really acceptable a decade ago. But, maybe, from now on, we will see such inventive mithai (displayed at the completion) on the shelves for sale.

The Winners:

First Ranker:

Competition means challenge and challenges are always tough. And to bring something like cranberries in mithai need a lot of thinking. This brought us to think hard about how to include this fruit into our product without diminishing its characteristic flavour. Then it occurred to me that this may be used in one of our creations, AMRITAKUMBHA. It was created with pure chhena and US Cranberries in pulp form, which was then sliced into little pieces. This experiment worked very well and we were pleased with the results.

When the respected judges praised our product, we became pretty sure that our intuitions were not wrong. Using this fruit in our product while at the same time maintaining the legacy was a challenge. And we are more than happy to say that we passed the test with flying colours in a national level competition. Thanks a lot to FSNM for giving us this opportunity to showcase the creativity of each sweetmeat manufacturer.

1^st runner up

We were glad to be part of FSNM and to get such a great opportunity to participate in the US Cranberry Mithai Competition. It was a challenging opportunity for us, and our strong morale and ingenious efforts were reflected in our work. It was an honour to get the price for first runner-up and be recognized among all our great leaders.

Over all, the event was very well organized and systematic. We got all the required support, facilities, and encouragement from the team, especially from Firoz Sir, who has been very kind and inspiring.

This event has motivated and encouraged us to grow and innovate more by developing our potential, seeking more support and more such opportunities for progress.

2^nd runner up

Fusion is the new normal in cuisine variations these days. Jamnagar is the first city that springs to mind when we think about dry kachori. Jamnagar’s dry kachoris are world famous, and Shreeji Pavan Kachoriwala is the most well-known brand, making dry kachoris as well as different mithai and namkeen.

Dry kachori is our signature product, having eleven different flavours like “Masala Kachori, Khasta Kachori, Methi Kachori, Garlic Kachori, Dal Kachori, Dry Fruit Kachori, Saffron Dry Fruit Kachori, Chinese Kachori, Cranberry Kachori, Walnut Kachori, and Sweet & Spicy Kachori.

Recently, we got a chance to be a part of the “4th World Mithai & Namkeen Expo 2021,” held in Jaipur.

US Cranberries India held a competition in which contestants had to present mithai and namkeen using cranberry samples. This offered us the opportunity to add another flavour to our kachori dictionary. We participated in the competition, presenting cranberry-flavoured kachori. This new flavour of ours helped us reach the 2nd runner-up position in the competition among all participants.

This platform helped us garner fame and recognition among the biggest names in the world of the food processing industry. It opened the doors for new prospects that would help our business grow leaps and bounds.

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Firoz Naqvi and the FSNM team for providing us with such a wide platform for presenting our products, strengthening our business, and assisting it in growing even further.