Shaheb Bhattacherjee at the Cadbury Mishti Shera Shrishti awards ceremony on Monday. Picture by Bhubaneswarananda Halder

If Cadbury weds Mishti, can the big, sweet Bengali wedding be far behind? On Monday morning, when the tatwa left Sourjya Kundu’s Girish Park home, the groom wanted to send “something new” to the bride’s. That “new” item on the ceremonial gift tray turned out to be Chocolate Talshash, all thanks to Cadbury Mishti Shera Shrishti, a fusion dessert campaign involving sweetshops across the city and its suburbs, held in association with The Telegraph and Anandabazar Patrika.

Sourjya is not alone. Sweetshops are being flooded with orders for Cadbury mishtis for the wedding menu, pre-wedding feasts as well as the all-important tatwa. Traditional sweets infused with chocolate have been around for a while but ever since the Cadbury Mishti campaign started in January, the demand for Cadbury mishti tatwa has shot up. “People would previously tell us please don’t give us any ‘black sandesh’ in tatwa trays. But once the Cadbury mishti campaign started, the ‘black sandesh’ is now a hot favourite,” said Sudip Mullick of Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick.

When Debraj Dhur got married in February, he too wanted to do something “new and different” within the traditional rituals. “I was aware of the ‘Cadbury weds Mishti’ campaign and thought why not use Cadbury mishtis in the tatwa! I went to Nalin Chandra Das & Sons and got Cadbury mishtis with ‘Shubho Bibaho’ written on them. It was a fusion of traditional and modern and I am told my in-laws loved it!” said the resident of College Street.

The campaign wrapped up with an awards ceremony on April 29 but the craze continues, say sweetshop owners. Nalin Chandra Das & Sons, which is over 170 years old, had never expected such a rise in demand for Cadbury mishti tatwas. “Ever since the campaign started, the demand for Cadbury mishti tatwas has risen by 25 per cent,” said Tapan Kumar Das.

So, which are the most popular varieties of Cadbury mishtis at weddings? From Mrs Cadmish and Choco Lava to traditional mishtis with a chocolatey twist — Chocolate Talshash and Chocolate Rui Maachh — Cadbury lovers are spoilt for choice. “Cadbury mishtis are now also a part of the biye and the boubhaat menu. People want these innovative mishtis for all occasions, it seems,” smiled Sudip of Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick.