India, Nov. 12 -- It's not just you. Snack time is now everyone's favourite meal of the day. Pick your fighter: Rs.10 Lays Magic Masala or American blue-potato Terra crisps for Rs.1,500? Buffalo jerky or pao bhaji-flavoured makhana? Tangy Blue Heat Takis or Pizza Hut-flavoured Cheetos? Air-fried bhindi crisps or Thai wasabi peas? Japanese seaweed crackers or chatpata edamame?

Even until the pandemic, snacking was largely a tea-time treat. Now, packets tear open in the middle of a long workday, on the endless commute, on S1E1 of a bingewatch, and in the void between dinner and actual sleep.

It's a fickle market to begin with. Snacks, unlike meals, are personal, casual, fully prone to our moods and whims. But the competition is getting cr...