How the pandemic helped Bengal’s moa-makers boost their sales
The Hindu
The confectionery is highly perishable product and should be sold fast
For the makers of the , the famous winter sweetmeat of Bengal, the pandemic turned out to be a blessing as it forced them out of their comfort zone and reach out to consumers — a move that has dramatically increased their sales.
“COVID has been a great teacher. Before the pandemic, people came to Joynagar in search of our moa and we were happy with whatever we sold. But COVID placed restrictions of the movement of people and we realised it was time for us to reach out to them. This seems to have created a win-win situation for both manufacturers and consumers,” Ashok Kumar Kayal, founding secretary of the Joynagar Moa Nirmankari Society — a group of 46 moa-makers from the town of Joynagar near Kolkata — told The Hindu.
The moa is a popped-rice ball held together with fresh date-palm jaggery that is extracted during the winter months, and its manufacture is so synonymous with Joynagar that it earned the Geographical Indication tag of Joynagar Moa in 2015.