These businesses are turning traditional Indian sweets into health-conscious versions

For generations, Indian sweets have been synonymous with celebrations, nostalgia, and indulgence, but they have also carried the baggage of excess sugar, ghee, and empty calories. Today, with rising health awareness and lifestyle diseases like diabetes becoming common, the mithai industry is undergoing a quiet revolution.

Traditional recipes are being reimagined with healthier ingredients like jaggery, dates, stevia, millets, and nuts, catering to a new generation of consumers who want to enjoy sweets without guilt. From zero-sugar rasgullas to millet-based laddoos and gluten-free barfis, these innovative versions balance taste with wellness. What’s more, many of these brands are combining age-old craftsmanship with modern food science, certifications, and global packaging standards.

These brands, spanning household names to fresh entrants, are proving that health and indulgence can go hand in hand.

Anand Sweets

Anand Sweets, founded in 1988 by Anand Dayal Dadu in Bengaluru, is a family-run brand known for its range of Indian sweets and savouries. The company offers traditional mithai, dry fruit gift boxes, sugar-free and date-sweetened variants, as well as items like baklava and savoury snacks.

To meet changing consumer preferences, it has introduced sweets made with natural sweeteners, dry fruits, and millets such as ragi and jowar. Anand Sweets operates over 15 retail stores, cloud kitchens, restaurants, and an ecommerce platform, alongside airport outlets. Its products are made in certified facilities that follow international hygiene and quality standards, combining traditional recipes with updated processes.

Haldiram

Haldiram's, founded in 1937 in Bikaner by Ganga Bhishen Agarwal, has expanded into a multinational FMCG and restaurant brand, and its Healthy Range focuses on adapting traditional Indian foods for health-conscious consumers. The line includes items such as medu vada made from urad dal, aloo gobhi paratha with whole wheat, bajra roti using pearl millet, and mutter paneer rich in protein and calcium.

These products emphasise the use of whole grains, protein- and fibre-rich ingredients, and spices with digestive or anti-inflammatory properties, while limiting artificial preservatives. The range provides ready-to-eat and instant options designed to balance nutrition with convenience.

Kanti Sweets

Kanti Sweets, founded in 1957 by Pandit Jyoti Swarup Sharma in Bangalore, has grown from a small stall into a large family-run chain with over 120 outlets across Bengaluru and Mysuru. Named after his brother, Shri Kantiswarup Sharma, the business was later managed by his son, Shri Rajendra Prasad and expanded into a partnership in 2005.

The brand offers more than 350 varieties of traditional and regional Indian sweets, namkeens, bakery items, and snacks. In recent years, it has developed health-focused products such as zero-sugar sweets, jaggery-based items, gluten-free and vegan options, and nutrition-oriented variants like Spirulina Nutra-Chikki and nut-based laddoos.

Collaborating with institutes such as CFTRI, Mysore, and supported by an in-house NABL-accredited lab, Kanti Sweets integrates food innovation with certified quality and safety standards.

Healthy Mithai Co

Healthy Mithai Co., founded in 2021 in Mumbai by Prabhinder Singh and Deepak Jain, produces Indian sweets adapted for health-conscious consumers. The company replaces sugar with stevia, a zero-calorie sweetener, to create low-glycemic, reduced-calorie alternatives while retaining traditional flavours and textures.

Its products are preservative-free and made in certified facilities, with some variants offering higher protein content and added prebiotic fibre. The range includes sugar-free rasgulla, gulab jamun, milk-based sweets, keto dry fruit mithai, laddoos, and vegan coconut barfi, catering particularly to people with diabetes and those seeking lower-calorie options.

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These MSMEs are reviving dying Indian crafts with global exports

Ghantewala Halwai

Ghantewala Halwai, established in 1790 by Lala Sukh Lal Jain in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, is among India’s oldest sweet shops and was historically known for serving Mughal rulers and political leaders.

The shop became famous for its Sohan Halwa along with other varieties like Karachi Halwa, Habshi Halwa, and Dal Moth, offering 40–50 seasonal and festival sweets prepared with desi ghee and traditional methods. After shutting down in 2015 due to declining sales and regulatory challenges, the business was revived in 2024 by descendants Sushant and Aryan Jain with a smaller, modernised setup.

The relaunch includes sugar-free and low-sugar sweets, gluten-free options like ragi laddoos, and dry fruit-based items, aligning with contemporary health preferences while maintaining traditional recipes. Online sales have also become part of its renewed operations.

Sukhadia

Sukhadia’s, founded in 1880 in Cambay (Khambhat), Gujarat, is a family-run sweets and snacks business that has expanded across India and to the United States, with outlets in New Jersey, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Passed through six generations, the business saw significant growth in the 1980s and 1990s under Jayant and Piyush Sukhadia, who introduced family recipes abroad. Its offerings include a wide variety of traditional sweets, snacks, and catering services, with an emphasis on preservative-free preparations.

In line with changing consumer preferences, Sukhadia’s has developed sugar-free and low-calorie variants, using natural sweeteners like jaggery and incorporating nuts, oats, and other nutrient-rich ingredients to create healthier versions of traditional mithai while retaining familiar flavours.