There’s nothing like uniformity to lose yourself in the crowd. And that’s a trap our chocolate makers are staying far away from. “While international trends embrace bold story telling (California-based Dick Taylor’s voyager themes are gorgeous) and a minimalist aesthetic, like the elegant Beau Cacao from London or Icelandic brand OmNom’s sharp geometry, in India, we are digging into local culture, with a little bit of everything,” says David Bello, of Mysuru-based artisanal chocolate brand Earth Loaf. From packaging inspired by kanjeevaram saris and block-printing, to collaborations with musicians and photographers, we look at five brands that are making sure they grab eyeballs on the shelf.
All Things
Two school friends — Kuhu Kochar, a communication designer, and Tejaswi Chanderi, a chef — are behind this two-year-old brand that has given luxury Belgian chocolate a local connect, and wrapping that you just don’t feel like tearing open. “The idea with the packaging, much like the flavours, is to make each bar reflective of the theme we are going with. We want to take chocolate out of its conventional space and use it as a medium of communication,” says Kochar, picking out their recent collection with Penguin — celebrating 30 years in India, with chocolates inspired by classic books of Raja Rao, Kalidasa, and Faiz Ahmed Faiz — as an example.
Packaging: Admitting that she’s always trying to balance whimsy with commercial viability, she says at All Things there is no one aesthetic. “Every wrapper is different in terms of graphic style, as we don’t want to repeat anything. Last year, we did a chequered collection with Pero, using left over fabric; for the Barcelona bar, we teamed with a photographer there, and each bar is retailed with a photograph; and the most recent launch, the Goa bar, developed from a series of photos and sketches that I did while I was there last,” says Kochar, who believes minimalism is now being replaced by a restrained kitsch aesthetic.
Flavours: All Things source their cocoa from over 22 countries, which go to a roastery in Belgium, before Chanderi works in local ingredients. “We’ve created over 22 flavours so far, with All Things Christmas (with peppermint candy cane) and Goa ( bebinca and drum-roasted cashew nuts) being the latest,” says Kochar, who is busy setting up a chocolate factory in Jaipur. Early next year, you can also expect experiments with spirits.
From ₹330 onwards, on theallthingsshop.com
Earth Loaf
Five years ago, David Bello, a mixologist and baker from London, blended his love of chocolate and India to begin this artisanal brand. “We have an India-only sourcing policy, and a big part of what we are at the moment is putting Indian cacao on the international stage, and showing the market how unique the flavour is in comparison to West African or Central or South American,” he says, explaining that while they source from Kerala and Karnataka, and soon Tamil Nadu, they are working on doing single origins from every cocao-producing state in the country.
Packaging: While Earth Loaf has kept things simple so far — with renderings of the peacock in the Malanad folk style — they are now experimenting with their single origin bars. “Design is a great way to show that different cocao beans have different personalities, through a graphical context. So the 72% Keralan gives a hint of where it comes from, with a girl from North Kerala in 1910. The Malabar Forest bar has a two-tone of the Idukki dam,” says Bello, who is excited about the soon-to-be-launched Tamil Nadu bar, which will feature a “friend who looks like a South Indian Jim Morrison”. The brand’s labels are getting a makeover too, inspired by the cigar industry.
Flavours: With a keen sense of balance between the five primary tastes — salt, sugar, bitter, sour and umami — he’s drawn a few deas from his mixology days, like the Mango, Red Capsicum & Chilli. At the ongoing The India Story in Kolkata, Bello has launched four new flavours: a Kentucky bourbon barrel-aged chocolate (with notes of raisin, oak and caramel), a Mysore pak , Caramelised musumbi and caraway seeds, and sandalwood with a hint of jasmine. “I’m also looking at subtle variables in fermentation as we would in wine and spirits,” he says.
₹335, on earthloaf.co.in
Smitten
Her chocolate bars have made it to Shahid Kapoor’s wedding, Isheta Salgaocar’s (Mukesh and Anil Ambani’s niece) nuptials, and Arpita Khan’s recent X’mas party. And currently, her Smores bars (with gingerbread cookies and marshmallows) are flying off the shelves. “All our bars are made to order, and we usually try very seasonal flavours,” says Mandakini Gupta, a TV journalist who quit her job to learn baking and intern at establishments like L’Opéra in Delhi and Michelin-starred WD~50 restaurant in New York, before going solo in 2014.
Packaging: Designed in-house, the wrappings are contemporary and take inspiration from the occasion to things she sees around her. “For a recent order, for a birthday party in Thailand, I did a series with batik , while for Diwali, I did four wrappers inspired by Indian textiles — a tie-and-dye, batik , paisley and an ikat ,” says Gupta, who also worked with a popular pattern of irregular brush strokes for the Longines’ Dolce Vita launch, in the brand’s colours of navy, silver-grey and gold. She hand-wraps each bar, with an origami fold at the back, to add a touch of delicacy and uniqueness.
Flavours: All the bars are made with Belgian couverture and hand-tempered at Smitten. “I like complex flavours, so each bar will have three to four elements — like our almond, currant and sea salt, hazelnut fig and orange, and pumpkin seed and candy chilli,” she says. With a berry bar out now, she is working on doing a miso caramel for early 2018.
₹180 (small) and ₹250 (large). Call them on 09810010735.
Soklet
Created by Karthikeyan Palanisamy and Harish Kumar, this Pollachi-based tree-to-bar brand is barely a year old, but is clear about its identity: quintessentially South India. So their graphic designer, Sujini Meiyappan, of Rock Paper Scissors in Coimbatore, took inspiration from kanjeevaram saris for their packaging — black with beautiful borders. “We are in the process of introducing flavoured bars (filter kaapi , masala chai , chilli, paan and more), so we will be experimenting with traditional colours like pinks and reds, and motifs, too. “We want to stay away from kitsch, and keep it minimalist, so we are looking at temple architecture, and arts and crafts,” says Meiyappan.
From ₹200 onwards, available at most supermarkets, including Nilgiris.
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Mason & Co
Handmade in Pondicherry, Jane Mason — who co-founded the artisanal brand with husband, Fabien — takes pride in keeping the brand “uniquely us”. So she chooses her flavours, collaborations and experiments with design quite carefully. “We keep track of trends, and do limited editions, like the Holi and Diwali bars — where we took elements like the colours and rangolis , and had fun. We also keep it contemporary, like our collab with NO-MAD, where we used their signature cow and textile prints,” says Mason, adding that her recent flavour experiment was for the Serendipity Art Festival in Goa. “We were doing tasting sessions, so we changed the fermentation in our 75% bittersweet to help people understand how we experiment with tasting notes with different processes,” she adds.
From ₹320 onwards, on masonchocolate.com
