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Pooja’s Srinivasan’s bite-sized toffee, Inippu Indulgence, she says, has come to represent many things. Heritage, identity, introspection, and a daily routine she best enjoys with her espresso in the afternoon. “Around a year ago, I began tinkering around in my kitchen, trying to perfect making this toffee. It made sense to me; it is a global confectionery, so universal that every culture across the world seems to have a version of it,” she says. A Le Cordon Bleu graduate, Pooja is no stranger to the world of confection and all things sweet. She and her sister Kavya Srinivasan have been integral in helping run their father’s bakery, CakeWalk on Sterling road, for over a decade now. When I meet her, it is at Crisp Cafe right above the bakery where the shelves continue to be filled with slices of their legendary chocolate truffle cake amongst many more sweet treats. “The journey at CakeWalk has been incredible. I have worked on and introduced new products, have been involved in operations, and even launched our chocolate brand Sugar Coat chocolates in the past,” she says. The Inippu Indulgence journey however, was different. “No one knew what I was working on in my kitchen for the longest time. I did not want early validation from people who knew me and instead set to work on perfecting the recipes, FSSAI approvals, and getting export certified,” she explains. “All of this got me thinking about trends, about the lessons I had learnt about quality, and about identity. A lot of Inippu comes down to identity for me; and showcasing my roots,” she adds. Pooja says she also drew on the expertise of her colleagues from CakeWalk who have been there in the business for years — Reji K Paul, general manager and Joem Moyalan, CakeWalk’s internal auditor. Three months ago, Inippu Indulgence launched with five flavours of chewy, soft, and fudgy toffee. “It felt fulfilling to work on something with ingredients that are so deeply rooted to South India; sugar and jaggery of course, but also using sea salt from Tuticorin, and spices from the Malabar region for example. We have all the native ingredients here to create a top quality heritage confectionery that can go global,” she says. As smaller bites, Inippu, Pooja adds, is a mindful indulgence which is in trend now given how health conscious people are choosing to be. Wrapped in bite-sized pieces and arranged neatly in boxes of 16, Inippu Indulgence comes in filter coffee, Tuticorin sea salt, Malabar spice, Dakshina Cocoa, and pure vanilla bean flavours. For the monsoon, and spooky season ahead of Halloween, Inippu has two new flavours; roasted pecan Malabar spice, and brown sugar salted butter. “These two new flavours will be available for only fifty boxes this season. We will keep bringing in new flavours though, and already have a couple ready for the upcoming Christmas season,” Pooja says. The toffee is preservative free, and has a shelf life of 90 days. While customised boxes of four are also becoming popular as wedding favours both in India and abroad, a recent order that they worked on has Pooja immensely excited. “For the WTA 250 Chennai Open tennis tournament, we worked on toffee boxes which will be given to all the participating athletes. This was a big opportunity for us, as a brand that has created something Tamil Nadu can showcase to the rest of the world,” she says. Inippu Indulgence is priced at ₹750 for a box of 16. For orders, DM them on Instagram @inippuindulgence
