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Guntur in Andhra Pradesh's been nursing a thing for energy drinks and rechargeable mini fans. Central Goa's in the middle of an intense flirtation with coconut water and mangoes. And, as it happens, it's Bengaluru, not Delhi, that's currently the ice-cream capital of India.
Or so it seems. Swiggy Instamart, one of India's biggest quick commerce apps, just dropped their Summer Trends 2026 report, which reveals what Indians are resorting to buying the most in the middle of an intense, country-wide heatwave: cold coffee, lassi, watermelon, ice-cream, and soda. The report's not only a glimpse into consumer behaviour, but also a fairly astute insight into how different cities behave when the mercury hits 45°C.
Some particularly amusing takeaways:
Night-time ice-cream's a big ritual in India
Orders for frozen treats peak between 9pm across the country, and skyrocket over the weekends. Family-sized tubs lead the charge – either signalling hefty family time or hefty appetites – with chocolate accounting for nearly one-fourth of the orders. Bengaluru dominates the game, with 14% of country-wide orders under its belt.
The mango mania's started
To nobody's surprise, mango retains its throne as the king of fruits. Sindhu's the most popular variety right now, defeating the Banganapalli and raw mangoes. Again, Bengaluru's leading overall demand (I'm very keen to know what kind of midlife crisis Bengaluru's going through, what with the sugar overload), but the fastest growth's coming from smaller towns, like Kozhikode, Madurai, Trichy, Vizag, and Nellore.
Some cities do dare to deflect, though: Chennai and Kochi are especially fond of muskmelon and watermelon.
There's a jeera soda craze
Jeera soda sales grew a whopping 900%, beating cold coffee's month-on-month growth!
Dahi > ice-cream?
Dahi has, somewhat shockingly, nearly matched cold drinks and ice-cream, sales-wise. Six of the top ten items are curd-based, including lassi.