Sugar, spice, and everything nice. That defines the culinary vibes in Indian households during the festive season. And with Deepavali a few days away, people are ready to step up their sweet game. Though there are straightforward traditional menus for each festival, there is always room for something novel, especially for those indulgences that scream ‘home’. Offering those familiar yet distinct South Indian flavours in a global confectionery format of ‘fudge’ is Inippu Indulgence, a city-based brand founded by Pooja Srinivasan.
Accustomed to the culinary world, Pooja grew up around sweet treats as her family established Cakewalk in 1990, and has 15 years of experience in the industry as a Le Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef.
Talking about the brand’s origin, Pooja observes that everybody, especially post-pandemic, is in an internet bubble of “what is good for you and what is not” and finding a balance in what they indulge in. “As a mom, I realised my own kids and nephews preferred smaller bites of treats of caramels and chocolates versus cakes, opposed to what we grew up with. We also saw a change at the bakery itself. The consumers wanted cakes for their celebrations but started ordering smaller sizes as they don’t want too much of it. So we decided to make bite-size our primary goal at Inippu,” she says.
The brand’s signature product is their original recipe fudge, developed after extensive experimentation. Pooja recalls spending two to three months working on the recipes at her house with the help of her close circle, conducting 60 trials, and taking it to a commercial kitchen only after she was satisfied. The recipe subsequently underwent several modifications to improve its shelf life, which now stands at nine months following third-party testing by an FSSA affiliate.
Fudge at Inippu is made with real butter and without preservatives. Their core offering includes South Indian heritage ingredients which “have been part of our traditions for generations, but always used without thinking twice”: Filter Coffee, Tuticorin Sea Salt, Malabar Spice, Pure Vanilla Bean, and Dakshina Cocoa. The brand has also introduced limited-edition combinations, including Mahabaleshwar Strawberry and Roasted Pecan Malabar Spice, for this season.
Pooja describes the product as an indulgence that does not overpower the senses. She adds, “We are very clear that we’re selling pieces of joy and that we are not here for health benefits. We use all three types of sugar, butter, and ingredients we grew up with.” Each piece carries 69 calories. “We’ve also been really cautious with our nut inclusions because of allergies,” says Pooja.
Consider fudge the modern cousin of a Mysore Pak…Every culture in the world will have a version of fudge — a combination of milk, dairy, fat, and sugar.Pooja Srinivasan
With the recipe doing all the heavy lifting, Inippu focuses on providing moments of joy in daily rituals as a small piece of after-dinner snack, or at events and celebrations. Targeting an audience of ages 5 to 80, Pooja aims for Inippu to be India’s first global confectionery and be present at every international airport where people can pick it up from duty-free. As a first step towards taking it beyond just delivering to the US, Inippu participated in the India Pavilion at Coffee Fest New York, organised by the Consulate General of India earlier this year.
“I was lucky enough to meet with the consul general in New York. He loved the product and asked us to be part of the coffee fest. We sent the products from India and displayed them at the festival through a representative.”
Pooja also claims that Inippu became the only Indian company from the country and the only fudge company present at the event. “It was validating, humbling, and joyful at the same time to see the reaction videos of people trying it because that’s what sort of told us that our fudge had a more universal validation beyond the Indian diaspora. People weren’t looking at it as an Indian product but a product that was tasty and good,” she says.
With her sights set on product expansion and going international, Pooja firmly believes, “Sometimes we just need to let the product do the talking and not force the story around it as much as we need to.”
For orders, visit: www.inippuindulgence.com