Sweetmeat making has been an old and a traditional occupation in places like Nasik and Trimbakeshwar. This may be perhaps Cue to the religious significance attached to these places. Persons visiting these places as pilgrims generally offer sweetmeats to their favourite deity and take back a part of it as prasad. The familiar local sweetmeat preparations are pedha, khava, basundi, shrikhand, ladu, etc.

A few new preparations like khaja, gulab jambu, halvas, etc., could also be added to the list being mainly the result of outside influence especially from Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Most of the shops are one-­man establishments. The initial capital required ranges between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 5,000 and is spent for the purchase of tools and equipment such as big vessels, cupboards, and the like.

Milk, ghee, sugar, hydrogenated oil, wheat and gram flour which are generally purchased in local markets, constitute the main raw materials. The expenditure on them generally ranges between Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,500 depending on the size of the establishment.

The owner himself carries on the business with the assistance of his family members and labourers are hardly employed. Wherever they are employed, especially in big establishments, they are paid between Rs. 50 and Rs. 80 per month depending upon the nature of the work and the size of the establishment.

The rent, labour charges and raw materials are the items of expendi­ture. The total income of an establishment consists of the receipts from the sale of the products. The net income of small, medium and large establishments ranges between Rs. 150 and 250, Rs. 250 and Rs. 400 and Rs. 400 and over respectively.