After 2 years, cakes fly off shelves at iconic stores in Kolkata – Times of India

KOLKATA: After a two-year slump, demand for different varieties of cake, including rich fruit, butter fruit, plum, walnut, chocolate-walnut, dates-raisins and plain, has soared. Traditional bakeries that hit a bump due to Covid are now clocking record sales.
At Nahoum & Sons in New Market, customers have been queuing up since December 16. It not only took the cake shop owners by surprise, the queues have blocked entrances to neighbouring shops.

Raja Biswas from Salimpur, who had to stop buying rich fruit cake from Nahoum’s for the past two Christmases, arrived a couple of days earlier than usual only to find a bigger queue this year.
Atanu Chatterjee, a shop assistant at Nahoum, said the shop gets very few cake customers between March and August. But the maximum sales are between November and February. “In 2020 and 2021, sales were affected during this period and we were in dire straits. But this year, sales have started earlier than usual,” said Chatterjee.
Imperial Bakers and Confectioners, close to 150 years old, had also suffered during the pandemic. Proprietor Sheikh Parvez Rahman said, “We are busier than ever. The period of Christmas is like a carnival for us. While we still want to preserve our legacy, we plan to branch out into online delivery next year.”
Saldanha Bakery is also an old family business. But they were nimble footed and adjusted to Covid challenges. Debra Alexandra, the second-generation owner, said they decided to start home delivery instead of only catering to corporates and institutions. “We even started brunches and meals for those who could not cook. Not only did we survive, we evolved,” she said.
Demand for cakes has been strong this Christmas and Debra’s daughter Alisha has plans to move beyond the two-storey home they operate from to a store in future.
With multiple outlets, Flurys did fairly good business during Covid, delivering bread and cakes to homes. With 57 stores across the city, and two more to be added soon, they hope to make higher cake sales this Christmas. “Christmas at Park Street is synonymous with Flurys. Our range of Christmas cakes, including the new nolen gur and coconut cake, are the most sought-after products,” said Flurys national head Rajesh Singh.