Ganesh Chaturthi without modaks would be almost unimaginable. From freshly steamed ukadiche modaks appearing in home kitchens to elaborate mithai boxes being carried to family gatherings, the sweet has always been inseparable from the festival. But over the last few years, the humble modak has also become something of a playground for chefs and sweet makers, appearing in flavours ranging from chocolate and caramel to coffee and fruit. This Ganesh Chaturthi 2026, one of last year’s more playful experiments is making a comeback, and it combines two things Indians rarely need convincing to eat: modaks and Britannia Bourbon.
Britannia Bourbon and Bombay Sweet Shop have brought back the limited-edition Britannia Bourbon Chocolate Modak following the response to its launch during last year’s festive season. The collaboration takes the familiar modak silhouette and gives it a decidedly chocolate-heavy makeover, bringing together Bombay Sweet Shop’s contemporary approach to Indian mithai with the nostalgic flavour of the classic Britannia Bourbon biscuit.
What’s inside the Britannia Bourbon Chocolate Modak?
At first glance, it sounds like one of those combinations created purely for the internet. Take something traditional, add a childhood favourite and wait for the photographs to appear. But the actual construction of the Bourbon Chocolate Modak makes considerably more sense. At its heart is a rich chocolate peda studded with crushed Britannia Bourbon biscuits. Inside sits a smooth Bourbon chocolate ganache, adding another layer of chocolate before the modak is finished with edible gold for the obligatory festive flourish.
Essentially, it is a modak for the person who looks at the mithai box during Ganesh Chaturthi but still secretly wants chocolate.
There is also an unmistakable nostalgia behind the collaboration. Britannia Bourbon has occupied Indian biscuit tins, school snack boxes and evening chai plates for generations. Those rectangular chocolate biscuits, with their sugar crystals and chocolate crème centre, need little introduction. Bombay Sweet Shop, meanwhile, has built much of its identity around looking at familiar Indian sweets through a contemporary lens, playing with flavours, formats and presentation while keeping recognisable elements of mithai intact.
Putting the two together creates an interesting meeting point between two kinds of food memory. One belongs to the biscuit packet you probably knew as a child. The other belongs to the mithai, rituals and family traditions associated with Indian festivals. The Britannia Bourbon Chocolate Modak sits somewhere in the middle.
According to Puneet Das, Chief Marketing Officer at Britannia Industries, that sense of familiarity was part of what made the collaboration work. Britannia introduced Bourbon to India, while Bombay Sweet Shop has become known for giving traditional Indian mithai a modern expression. Bringing Bourbon’s familiar chocolate flavour into the world of modaks therefore became a way of giving a festive favourite an unexpected but accessible personality.
A new chapter for festive mithai
The collaboration also reflects a larger shift happening across Indian festive food. Tradition is no longer necessarily at odds with experimentation. The classics are not disappearing; if anything, they continue to form the heart of celebrations. But alongside them, a new category of festive sweets is emerging for consumers who are perfectly happy to have their traditional modak and a chocolate ganache-filled one too.
That is particularly visible among younger consumers, for whom festivals can be both deeply traditional and extremely contemporary at the same time. The morning might begin with an aarti at home and end with photographs, café visits and a box of experimental mithai being passed around between friends. Food brands and modern mithai makers are increasingly embracing this duality rather than attempting to choose between the two.
Bombay Sweet Shop has made that reinterpretation central to its identity. The brand takes familiar Indian sweets and approaches them with a sense of playfulness, whether through unexpected flavours, new formats or contemporary presentation. Yet the emotional connection to traditional mithai remains at the centre of the experience.
For Sameer Seth, Founder and CEO of Bombay Sweet Shop’s parent company Hunger Inc. Hospitality, Bourbon offered exactly that sense of familiarity. The brand’s long-standing relationship with Britannia made the collaboration a natural one, but the response to the first edition gave them another reason to bring the Chocolate Modak back for Ganesh Chaturthi 2026. The idea is simple: a little more chocolate, a little more fun, while ensuring that what you are eating still unmistakably feels like a modak.
And perhaps that is why the combination works better than it has any right to. This is not trying to replace the traditional modak. It is the fun extra box you bring home alongside it.
The timing of its return also taps into the increasingly elaborate world of festive gifting. Mithai boxes today have become as much about discovery as they are about tradition. People still want sweets rooted in the occasion, but there is also growing interest in products that spark conversation when the box is opened. A Bourbon Chocolate Modak finished with edible gold certainly fits that brief.
For hosts, it becomes something unexpected to add to the Ganesh Chaturthi table. For guests, it works as a festive gift with an immediate nostalgia hook. And for anyone who has always reached for the Bourbon packet before any other biscuit, resistance may be difficult.
Price, availability and where to buy
The limited-edition Britannia Bourbon Chocolate Modak is priced at Rs. 450 and will be available until September 27, 2026. Mumbai customers can order it through Bombay Sweet Shop or pick it up from its locations across Byculla, Kala Ghoda, Phoenix Palladium in Lower Parel, Bandra, Juhu, Oshiwara and Borivali. It is also available through Swiggy and Zomato, making the inevitable last-minute festive sweet run considerably easier.
There is also a distinctly Mumbai touch to the collaboration. Those heading towards major Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations around Lalbaugcha Raja or Parelcha Raja can pick up the limited-edition modaks while making their festive visits, turning them into an easy addition to a day of darshan, pandal hopping and family celebrations.
The return of the Britannia Bourbon Chocolate Modak ultimately says something charming about where Indian festive food is heading. A sweet can carry generations of symbolism and still leave room for a crushed chocolate biscuit. Nostalgia can come from a family modak recipe as easily as it can come from the Bourbon packet you opened after school. The two do not necessarily have to compete.
Ganesh Chaturthi will always belong to the traditional favourites that define the festival, and nothing is likely to dethrone a warm, freshly made modak served during celebrations at home. But festivals also thrive on joy, abundance and the occasional indulgence that exists simply because it is fun.
And this year, if that indulgence happens to involve chocolate peda, crushed Bourbon biscuits, smooth chocolate ganache and a little edible gold, we suspect Bappa will understand.
