Diwali Desi Delights campaign exhorts citizens to savour rasgullas, matthis and shun chocolates and cakes

Indian Sellers Collective, an umbrella body of trade associations and sellers across the country, has launched the Diwali Desi Delights campaign. The campaign champions Indian sweet items and savouries over western food items like chocolates and cakes. The campaign, which also aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call of ‘Vocal for Local’, seeks to revive and celebrate the unique flavours and traditions that define our cultural identity, ultimately forging a stronger connection with our roots and communities.

The campaign is being launched across digital platforms to reach out to the new generation and help them understand the relevance of traditional sweets in festive season. The campaign highlights how traditional savouries filled with ingredients like cashews, almonds, pistachios and jaggery are a healthier alternative compared to western food items like cakes and chocolates.

The campaign also goes beyond encouraging the adoption of traditional sweets by calling out efforts by foreign food corporations and international organisations like the World Health Organization (WHO) to influence Indian food preferences so that these food MNCs can make inroads into the vast Indian market. It alleges that by influencing food choices, they aim to create a preference for foreign products, thereby disrupting the long-standing culinary traditions deeply rooted in Indian culture.

Abhay Raj Mishra, Member & National Coordinator, Indian Sellers Collective, said, “Amidst the festive cheer, we urge our fellow citizens to include only Indian sweets and delicacies as part of their celebrations. A festival like Diwali provides the perfect opportunity to celebrate and showcase our rich food culture and heritage, safeguarding it against the encroachment by foreign foods. We must challenge the introduction of regulations like FOPNL, which aim to present foreign foods as healthier than traditional Indian foods. Our culinary heritage deserves to be celebrated and protected. So this festive season, let’s trend #DiwaliDesiDelights.”

Indian Sellers Collective asserts that due to saturation in the western markets, multinational corporations are now targeting populous markets like India to promote their packaged foods. The guidelines of Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling (FOPNL) seem to align with this agenda, attempting to alter Indian food preferences by generating unwarranted concerns about traditional Indian foods.

Indian Sellers Collective argues that the FOPNL regulation is deeply flawed. In a study that assessed favourite Indian foods using the star rating method proposed by FSSAI, significant flaws were uncovered by Indian Sellers Collective.