Business, slow for the past eight months, has started picking up in the run-up to Christmas, said owners of confectioneries and bakeries in Calcutta.

For some, business has been gaining in momentum since the beginning of December, and for others, demands soared over the past five days or so.

“December has been much better and the sale has gone up by up to 25 per cent. It is definitely better than what it was during Diwali. But it is still not what it was in other years,” said Lovey Barman, director, Kookie Jar.

The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was celebrated at St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday evening. The event is held every year before Christmas. Gautam Bose

The popular picks at Kookie Jar include Christmas fruit cakes, Christmas pudding with brandy butter and cakes with Santa Claus and Christmas tree. Saldanha’s offerings include walnut cakes and the coconut macaroons, while Mrs Magpie fare of 40 items have among them fruit cakes, date and walnut cakes, marzipans and mincemeat cake loaves.

The owners of confectioneries and bakeries hope the demand uptick would sustain at least till the first week of January.

The message of peace, love and happiness is sent out for the entire humanity through Bible reading and carol singing, a church official said. Gautam Bose

“Orders have been picking up over the last five days and we hope the trend will continue through the festive season,” said Saldanha owner Debra Alexander.

“In previous years people would plan in advance. But this year we are getting more last-minute orders…. We are happy that our clients are back. In fact, the last few days have exceeded our expectations.”

With an upswing in sales, Mrs Magpie has started a “Christmas pop up” at Survey Park, which will later be turned into a cafe.

“For us things started returning back to normal post-September. It has been a challenging year. In the current situation, everyone is tired of being at home and are coming out,” said Sohini Basu, the proprietor of Mrs Magpie, which has been getting Christmas orders since the beginning of December.

“The choir comprises not just members of St Paul’s Cathedral, but also people from other churches, parishes and other faiths,” the official said. The festival continued for an hour and 15 minutes. Gautam Bose

At Convent Lane’s Cafe & Bakery, an initiative of Kolkata Mary Ward Social Centre, it was a busy Sunday. “We had thought that we would not be baking this year, but inquiries started coming from November and we started baking on December 10. It will continue till December 24,” said Sister Monica Suchiang, the director of KMWSC.

“It is good because we can make up for some of the losses the Cafe suffered during the lockdown.”

The Cafe & Bakery baked 50kg on Sunday and slots were given to clients to collect their cakes mixed and baked.

Kookie Jar has slashed its Christmas cake variety this year. “We would have 20 special items in previous years, but this year we have five or six. Usually, in winter there would be people from across the world and country in Calcutta, but it has not been so this year,” said Barman, of Kookie Jar.