Lucky Grapes? Blinkit sees record demand as Indians join the ‘12 grapes’ New Year craze
Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa expressed astonishment over an unusual trend: grapes had become one of the highest-ordered items on the 10-minute delivery platform. “What’s with the sudden craze for grapes today?? It’s one of the highest ordered items on the platform since morning! We’ve already delivered 7x more grapes than we do on a regular day,” Dhindsa tweeted.
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The mystery was quickly unravelled online, with users attributing the craze to the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight—a custom believed to bring good luck for each month of the coming year.
The Origins of the ‘12 Lucky Grapes’ Tradition
Known as “las doce uvas de la suerte”, the practice originated in Spain during the late 19th century. Marcelino Lominchar, author of Historias de la historia de España, explains that the tradition began when winemakers in Alicante had a surplus of grapes. “In 1909, a large surplus of Dominga grapes from Alicante’s Vinalopó region led to a marketing campaign where the ‘12 lucky grapes’ were given away for free, helping to establish a tradition that has now lasted over a century,” Lominchar shared in a LinkedIn conversation.
The tradition gained further prominence in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, where celebrants
