Post-harvest festivals play a crucial role in heritage conservation, but in the days of quick commerce and e-commerce, the festivity also unlocks new economic opportunities. Bhogali Bihu, the largest post-harvest festival in the entire northeast region, also demonstrates traditional skills of the indigenous Assamese people in food processing. A wide range of Bihu eatables are primarily processed foods made from rice, sesame, jaggery and milk which fill the farmers’ granaries during harvesting days. Rapid urbanisation and a growing diaspora have raised the demand for commercial-scale production of Bihu eatables. Horizontal and vertical expansion of Guwahati city and expansion of various towns have led to more households seeking ready-to-eat Bihu eatables to celebrate the festival and observe the rituals. Quality packaging and branding are essential to transform the seasonal Bihu markets into an organised market of traditional Assamese processed food. Some food entrepreneurs focusing on these aspects is an encouraging development, but integrating the local brands of Bihu items with e-commerce and quick commerce can create new avenues of sustainable livelihoods for farm households, more particularly, the rural youth. Ironically, while dairy products like milk, curd and cream are abundant during Bhogali Bihu, the state remains perennially dependent on supplies of packaged milk, fresh cream, curd and paneer manufactured by mega brands from outside during the remaining months. Flattened rice items (chira, hurum), instant rice (komol Saul), and sticky rice (bora saul) with curd and cream make delicious breakfast meals, but the state has not been able to fully unlock the potential. Bhogali Bihu festivity showcases the wide range of indigenous rice varieties of the state, with different types of flattened rice from these indigenous rice varieties sold in makeshift Bihu markets and served to guests. Traditional rice varieties are grown as organic crops, due to which processed food from these varieties can have appeal to different communities within and outside the state, especially for health-conscious young individuals. Drastic changes in consumer behaviour and their overdependence on quick commerce and doorstep delivery, even during late hours at night, demand the availability of adequate stocks of items they want to put on their e-carts and order by pressing the buy button. Labelling, branding and online reviews dominate their shopping preference. Therefore, tapping this vast online market to sell traditional Assamese processed food requires good packaging and clear labelling on the assurance of food safety standards, nutritional content and health benefits. Hygienic food processing demands the use of quality food-grade stainless containers and other utensils at the processing units. Use of dehumidifiers is required to increase the shelf life. Various central schemes like Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing and the Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialization Scheme, 2024, offer subsidies on plant and machinery as well as overall project expenditure of industrial units. Youth of the state are leveraging these schemes and traditional food processing skills to manufacture food items on a scale targeting the growing food market on e-commerce platforms. Ironically, a review of PMFME revealed that the allocated fund remains underutilised due to the receipt of a very low number of project proposals from the northeast region. Nevertheless, a section of youth coming forward to tap the potential of this market of processed food items by focusing on quality packaging and labelling is good news, but brand building needs to be strengthened for a strong market presence and to withstand the cutthroat competition. Student and youth bodies of different communities in the state, local panchayats and autonomous councils, public sector units, and local elected representatives taking initiatives to spread awareness of various government schemes and projects and extending support to e-commerce players, industry associations and government departments to frequently organise training programmes on hygienic food processing, quality labelling, online marketing and brand building can motivate youth and womenfolk to unlock the market of processed food items from the state. Unlocking this market potential will lead to an increase in demand for local rice, sesame, jaggery, dairy products, etc. This will also ensure remunerative prices to farmers for their produce and encourage them to increase production by focusing on productivity and expansion of cultivated area. Success in processed food developed from traditional Bihu eatables can also go a long way in scaling up production in food processing from various fruits and vegetables. For any food processing projects to become successful, it is essential that the thinking of the entrepreneurs is aligned with changing consumer behaviour driven by modern e-commerce and the emergence of new market players like food aggregators. Improvement in logistics and presence of strong logistic players takes away the worries of manufacturers; they ensure timely and reliable delivery to end consumers. Real-time tracking of consignments and digital payment ecosystems have lessened worries of food processing units. It is time the Assamese community, as a whole, started taking a closer look at these opportunities and unlocked the market potential of post-harvest abundance to make the Bihu festivity Bhogali in the real sense.