Sweets and farsan
Sweets and farsan
System Design
System Design
Mapping the hidden systems behind Mumbai's sweets and farsan industry, from trust-based shopping to the labour keeping it running
Mapping the hidden systems behind Mumbai's sweets and farsan industry, from trust-based shopping to the labour keeping it running
ROLE
ROLE
Systems Researcher
Service Designer
Design Strategist
Systems Researcher
Service Designer
Design Strategist
timeline
timeline
3 weeks
3 weeks
team
team
4 Designers
4 Designers
Exploring the legacy industry
Exploring the legacy industry
We went into Mumbai's sweets and farsan industry without a problem to solve. Just a question: how does this whole world actually work, and what's quietly breaking inside it that nobody's ever bothered to name.
We went into Mumbai's sweets and farsan industry without a problem to solve. Just a question: how does this whole world actually work, and what's quietly breaking inside it that nobody's ever bothered to name.
Everyone in Mumbai has a sweet shop they trust. It's part of how the city works, wedding orders, festival boxes, the same counter your family's gone to for twenty years. And yet nobody had actually sat down and mapped how any of it holds together, the shops, the supply chains, the pressure sitting quietly underneath a business built on tradition and trust. We didn't start with a problem statement because we didn't have one yet. We started by just going and looking.
Everyone in Mumbai has a sweet shop they trust. It's part of how the city works, wedding orders, festival boxes, the same counter your family's gone to for twenty years. And yet nobody had actually sat down and mapped how any of it holds together, the shops, the supply chains, the pressure sitting quietly underneath a business built on tradition and trust. We didn't start with a problem statement because we didn't have one yet. We started by just going and looking.
From shop to shop
From shop to shop
We walked into twenty-plus shops ourselves, across Dadar, Lalbaug, Ghatkopar, and a few others, everything from single-counter family businesses to company outlets like Chitale Bandhu.
We walked into twenty-plus shops ourselves, across Dadar, Lalbaug, Ghatkopar, and a few others, everything from single-counter family businesses to company outlets like Chitale Bandhu.
At every stop we tried to notice the same three things: the objects in the shop (packaging, billing machines, storage, display), the environment around it (kitchens, cold storage, delivery, the retail floor itself), and the people making it all run, owners, halwais, delivery staff, customers, even the gas supplier and the landlord.
At every stop we tried to notice the same three things: the objects in the shop (packaging, billing machines, storage, display), the environment around it (kitchens, cold storage, delivery, the retail floor itself), and the people making it all run, owners, halwais, delivery staff, customers, even the gas supplier and the landlord.
Mapping the Mithai Economy
Mapping the Mithai Economy
Once we had the field data, we tried to trace how everything actually connects, not just "step one, step two" supply chain stuff, but the loops running underneath it. How a shop's location affects how visible it is. How visibility affects footfall. How footfall pushes on production. How that pressure quietly pushes back on labour, on packaging, on the actual experience a customer walks away with.
Once we had the field data, we tried to trace how everything actually connects, not just "step one, step two" supply chain stuff, but the loops running underneath it. How a shop's location affects how visible it is. How visibility affects footfall. How footfall pushes on production. How that pressure quietly pushes back on labour, on packaging, on the actual experience a customer walks away with.
We built three causal loop diagrams at different zoom levels, the whole city ecosystem, the relationship between shop and manufacturer, and the packaging-to-production cycle on its own. From there we pulled everything into one interconnected node map, tracing critical paths, time delays, and where loops were reinforcing each other versus balancing each other out, some in useful ways, one or two in damaging ones. That's the diagram that actually showed us where the pressure in the system was compounding, not just where it existed.
We built three causal loop diagrams at different zoom levels, the whole city ecosystem, the relationship between shop and manufacturer, and the packaging-to-production cycle on its own. From there we pulled everything into one interconnected node map, tracing critical paths, time delays, and where loops were reinforcing each other versus balancing each other out, some in useful ways, one or two in damaging ones. That's the diagram that actually showed us where the pressure in the system was compounding, not just where it existed.
That map also gave us a clearer read on challenges and insights sitting underneath the loops themselves, the scarce resources the whole system keeps straining against (skilled labour, storage capacity, capital, time), the barriers slowing any real fix (high packaging costs, limited storage, resistance to changing established processes), and the tools already in play or missing (waste tracking, freshness tracking, better inventory systems). It's the point where the diagram stopped being just a map and started pointing at specific, nameable problems.
That map also gave us a clearer read on challenges and insights sitting underneath the loops themselves, the scarce resources the whole system keeps straining against (skilled labour, storage capacity, capital, time), the barriers slowing any real fix (high packaging costs, limited storage, resistance to changing established processes), and the tools already in play or missing (waste tracking, freshness tracking, better inventory systems). It's the point where the diagram stopped being just a map and started pointing at specific, nameable problems.
We built three causal loop diagrams at different zoom levels, the whole city ecosystem, the relationship between shop and manufacturer, and the packaging-to-production cycle on its own. Alongside that, we ran fishbone diagrams to pull apart two effects that kept showing up across the loops, a decline in authentic taste, and a shrinking pool of people who actually know how to make this stuff well.
We built three causal loop diagrams at different zoom levels, the whole city ecosystem, the relationship between shop and manufacturer, and the packaging-to-production cycle on its own. Alongside that, we ran fishbone diagrams to pull apart two effects that kept showing up across the loops, a decline in authentic taste, and a shrinking pool of people who actually know how to make this stuff well.
Between the loops, the interconnected map, and the fishbones, a clear set of challenge areas emerged, each one linked back to specific insights from the field. That's the output of this stage: not a single problem, but a marked-up map of where the real friction was sitting.
Between the loops, the interconnected map, and the fishbones, a clear set of challenge areas emerged, each one linked back to specific insights from the field. That's the output of this stage: not a single problem, but a marked-up map of where the real friction was sitting.
What's really inside the box
What's really inside the box
Out of everything the systems maps surfaced, we picked one or two challenge areas to dig into further, using an Root Cause Analysis to move from what's visible down to the beliefs actually driving behavior underneath.
Out of everything the systems maps surfaced, we picked one or two challenge areas to dig into further, using an Root Cause Analysis to move from what's visible down to the beliefs actually driving behavior underneath.
On the surface: crowded counters, inconsistent handling, slow service during rush hours, the same questions asked to staff over and over, hesitation before people actually bought anything.
Underneath: patterns like trust-based decision making, a heavy reliance on a human explaining things face to face, and information that just isn't visible anywhere, not on the product, not in the space.
Right at the bottom, two beliefs kept coming up almost word for word, across completely different shops: "yahan se liya toh accha hi hoga" (if I bought it from here, it'll be fine), and "pakka aaj ka hi hai na" (it's definitely today's, right).
That's what actually stuck with us. People weren't checking anything. They were trusting a shop's name instead, because the product never gave them anything else to go on.
On the surface: crowded counters, inconsistent handling, slow service during rush hours, the same questions asked to staff over and over, hesitation before people actually bought anything.
Underneath: patterns like trust-based decision making, a heavy reliance on a human explaining things face to face, and information that just isn't visible anywhere, not on the product, not in the space.
Right at the bottom, two beliefs kept coming up almost word for word, across completely different shops: "yahan se liya toh accha hi hoga" (if I bought it from here, it'll be fine), and "pakka aaj ka hi hai na" (it's definitely today's, right).
That's what actually stuck with us. People weren't checking anything. They were trusting a shop's name instead, because the product never gave them anything else to go on.
Solutions direction
Solutions direction
The system we mapped pointed toward problems at very different scales. At one end, we sketched something as ambitious as Rasvidya, a concept for repositioning the halwai from labourer to respected artisan and brand builder, addressing the skilled labour and authentic taste threads directly. At the smaller end, we prototyped things like a portion-control dispenser and a digital shelf display for bestsellers and dietary needs.
The system we mapped pointed toward problems at very different scales. At one end, we sketched something as ambitious as Rasvidya, a concept for repositioning the halwai from labourer to respected artisan and brand builder, addressing the skilled labour and authentic taste threads directly. At the smaller end, we prototyped things like a portion-control dispenser and a digital shelf display for bestsellers and dietary needs.
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Learnings
Learnings
Our visits showed us that trust often matters more than information. Freshness was only one part of the picture. We also noticed gaps around labour, consistency, and knowledge-sharing. What seemed like a simple buying experience was actually shaped by a much larger system of people, skills, and relationships.
Our visits showed us that trust often matters more than information. Freshness was only one part of the picture. We also noticed gaps around labour, consistency, and knowledge-sharing. What seemed like a simple buying experience was actually shaped by a much larger system of people, skills, and relationships.
