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Extended Producer Responsibility in Kocoatrait Chocolates

Extended Producer Responsibility India
Extended Producer Responsibility India
Extended Producer Responsibility India is a recent initiative of the Government of India. KocoatraitIndia’s 1st Zero waste, inclusive and sustainable bean to bar chocolates increases it commitment to the circular economy and to saving the planet by committing itself beyond the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines set by the Government of India. EPR refers to the responsibility of the producer towards the disposal of products and packaging once they are designated as no longer useful by consumers.

Kocoatrait’s new EPR initiative calls for the return of (already planet friendly) wrappers back to the brand for up-cycling. The wrappers returned will be up-cycled and used to make a future set of wrappers. An insert card placed inside the chocolate wrapper (and printed on Kocoatrait Paper/plastic free material using plastic ink just like our wrappers!) provides the details of the return. This is the 1st such initiative by an Indian origin Bean to Bar chocolate brand. This effort is aimed at helping consumers and corporates practise conscious consumerism by giving them a choice to return and be zero waste during the festive season.

“EPR focusses on plastic waste management but inspite of Kocoatrait wrappers already being paper & plastic free, we have extended our commitment beyond the EPR program in line with our consumers demands and what we believe is the right thing to do for our planet. There is no Planet B.” says L Nitin Chordia, India’s 1st certified chocolate taster and co-founder of Kocoatrait.
The link to ordering festive gifts is: https://cocoatrait.com/product-category/zero-waste-gift-boxes/
Also read: Why choose bean to bar chocolate made in India?
Find out what makes Kocoatrait chocolates guilt free, sustainable, zero waste & planet friendly! Click to read: cocoatrait.com/about-us/
Extended Producer Responsibility India
Extended Producer Responsibility India
About Kocoatrait, Poonam Chordia & L Nitin Chordia:Kocoatrait is the world & India’s 1st Sustainable Luxury Zero Waste, Single Origin, Organic and Planet Friendly Bean to Bar Chocolate contributing to the circular economy. Kocoatrait was conceived with an aim to enable aspiring Indian citizens to adopt a zero waste lifestyle and follow minimalistic living. Poonam Chordia is India’s 1st certified female chocolate taster and co-founder of Kocoatrait. She is a faculty at Cocoashala. L Nitin Chordia is India’s 1st certified chocolate taster. A Sparring Partner and a Retail Business Consultant with over 15 years of experience in Indian FMCG and Retail Domain. His current consulting focus is Sustainability, Zero Waste & Circular Economy. Nitin is India’s 1st Certified Chocolate Taster, Judge at the International Chocolate Awards, London and a Cocoa Post Harvest Professional. Nitin is the 1st external faculty at the Institute of fine chocolate tasting, UK.
Press Contact: L Nitin Chordia +919600064846nitin@cocoatrait.com
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Cacao to Chocolate Strategic Sparring Partner / Consultant

Online Bean to Bar Course

As part of our contribution towards doubling cacao farmer income, inclusivity and atmanirbhar bharat initiatives, we offer cacao post harvest (Fermentation/Drying) and Bean to Bar chocolate consulting services as a strategic sparring partner to Indian Cacao farmers and chocolate entrepreuners. We work with businesses at all stages of development from pre-startup and start-up to multinational corporations, FMCG companies and cacao farmers looking to step up to the next phase of their cacao/chocolate journey. We help set up test cacao fermentation centers to large scale centers and bean to bar innovation labs which can produce R&D samples untill full scale production units which can process/produce 100 tonnes of cacao into chocolate.

Apart from delivering the traditional purposes we, as consultants are hired for, we aim to cater to the additional goals of an organisation as a sparring partner to ensure that clients can build a business which is agile, future proof and able to cater to the ever changing market scenario/needs. Our consulting process starts with spending 3 days for the Micro Batch Bean to Bar Chocolate making certification program at Cocoashala, Chennai to ensure that clients are on the same page before the commencement of an engagement. Taking a leaf from Nitin’s 15+ years of consulting experience working with clients globally, Nitin has tailored Cocoashala’s unique and one of its kind engagement approach to be a sparring partner stemming from a clear understanding and belief that projects succeed when right expectations are clearly set before commencing an engagement and fail only when expectations are not set right.

Demand for cacao and chocolate is continuously rising but the cacao farmer continues to get neglected in this growth. Traditionally, cacao farmers have not been subject to receiving the same benefits as the other partners in the cacao/chocolate value chain. They have forever been excluded. Post harvesting is arguably one of the most important variables after genetics that determine the final flavour profile of the cacao bean and hence the final chocolate bar. Please read the current state of Indian cacao here. However, there is a clear distinction between bulk and fine flavour cacao. Let’s first start with busting the myth about cacao varieties. Please read about the different cacao varieties in India here.

Kocoatrait Zero Waste Chocolate
Indian Cacao

Once you have read the contents of the above link, you would also notice that the cacao and chocolate industry has started to distinguish between varieties of cacao and started to group them as as Bulk or Fine flavour cacao. It will help to understand the difference between the two.

Cocoa is like grapes. You can decide to either make grape juice or fine wine!

L Nitin Chordia, Cocoashala

But before you read ahead, kindly observe that there is no such thing as quality in cacao. The term Quality is used most often by the buyer to negotiate a better price from the seller and there are some parameters which are used to determine the quality and give the power of negotiation in the hands of the buyer (large corporations in the case of cacao). A cacao farmer does not have much play or say in this situation because he cannot change the genetics of already planted cacao and hence the associated physical characteristics like bean size, bean count etc. The fact is that these parameters rarely define the flavour of cacao and are used against the farmers of bulk cacao during price negotiations. Given the growth of the bean to bar industry globally and in India, chocolate makers require flavour to be delivered rather than bean size and count. Smaller sized beans do not always mean inferior bean! It is time farmers change the benchmark and focus on improved product delivery through flavour enhancements, control over off-flavours and consistency. The cacao farmer often stands to loose with the current approach of negotiating for cacao on these parameters! Further, the cacao farmer in India does not invest on improving the flavour profile of cacao because they feel they do not find buyers who will buy their entire produce and compensate them for their efforts. It is a catch 22 situation, since cacao farmers would never be able to negotiate a better price for their produce if they do not invest into improving their consistency and flavour. This is the reason we have invested our efforts to provide cacao fermentation consulting in india to deserved cacao farmers and help them increase their incomes.

Kocoatrait Zero Waste Chocolate
Indian Bean to Bar Chocolate

Specific genetics help us bring out interesting flavours, however, consistent and sustainable post harvesting practises are essential to ensure that those interesting flavour characteristics are carried forward to the beans for chocolate makers to take advantage of. These flavours make the job of chocolate makers, of creating delicious defect free chocolate, much easier and helps them deliver memorable and immersive chocolate experiences to the discerning consumer. This is the reason farmers charge a premium for these value added cacao and chocolate makers can charge a premium too! Most hierloom cacao varieties are fine flavour and grow in the south americas. In the case of bulk cacao, which is what makes for most of indian cacao, the hybrid varieties are engineered to either provide disease resistance and/or offer more yield with a compromise on the final flavour potential. This is a reason why bulk varieties of cacao are not sold at a premium.

However, it is not all bad news for Indian cacao farmers! With a lot of discipline and effort in the post harvesting practises, it is proven that we can elevate the flavour delivery ability of bulk varieties of cacao and make it more valuable from a flavour and consistency perspective. It does not mean it can compare or compete with fine flavour varieties, but it certainly means more remuneration for indian cacao farmers and chocolate makers. As the bean to bar market evolves, variations in post harvesting practises also give cacao farmers an opportunity to offer different products to meet different requirements of the chocolate maker. Our cacao fermentation and post harvesting consulting services in india help cacao farmers charge a premium for their produce. This increase in farmer income goes a long way in farmers investing efforts and achieving our goal of placing Indian cacao on the global map! Please read why we should choose to consume bean to bar chocolates made in India here.

Kocoatrait Zero Waste Chocolate
Indian Bean to Bar Chocolates

Having executed several small, medium and large scale post harvest improvements projects in south india over the last 4 years, we remain committed to improving the quality of the Indian cacao bean. While discovering and working in various cacao growing regions including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamilnadu, it is interesting to learn about traditional fermentation practises (and beliefs) of Indian cacao farmers. We believe that Indian cacao has potential to find a place in the global fine flavour map. Further, we provide end to end bean to bar chocolate manufacturing, planning & set up services. We have set up several small and medium size award winning bean to bar projects in India. To understand the definition of bean to bar chocolate in india, click: https://cocoatrait.com/bean-to-bar/bean-bar-chocolate-india-definition/ and to explore more about the bean to bar making process watch video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0srVqupalpQ

We aspire to take Indian cacao international and call for support from the farmer community. L Nitin Chordia, India’s 1st certified chocolate taster believes that this is an inclusive offering and will work in the benefit of the farmer and the overall growing bean to bar chocolate industry. “This will further help us decrease our reliance on imports of cacao/chocolate” says L Nitin Chordia. “While the government is trying hard to increase the area under cultivation of cacao in India, this added effort and investment from the farmer would help him increase farmer income and make good quality beans available to the Indian bean to bar chocolate makers. We are happy to share our expertise and experience for this cause. This will ensure many more chocolatiers will have access to fine flavour beans and I see this as a win-win situation for the Indian cacao and chocolate industry. This will set the foundation to support the unprecedented growth this industry is witnessing” says L Nitin Chordia. Kocoatrait further provides buy back options to farmers and clearly documents the ROI to enable farmers make an educated and informed decision.

“Training and consultation from Nitin at Cocoashala was instrumental in kickstarting Paul And Mike in quick time. In addition to chocolate making, his insights about the Indian consumer were critical to create the right product portfolio”

Vikas Temani—Business Head, Paul & Mike Craft Chocolates.

“In the first workshop on chocolate making, I learnt about the process followed by chocolatiers. The second workshop was a step forward to getting the fermentation right, identifying the right flavours in the cacao, etc.,”

Akhil Grandhi, Bon Fiction Bean to Bar Chocolates.

Harish Manoj Kumar and Karthik Palanisamy of Soklet took samples to Chennai-based L Nitin Chordia, India’s first certified chocolate taster, and asked him to give them a try. “If he wasn’t going to like them, both the idea and the chocolate were going to be binned,” said Palanisamy. But Chordia liked what they’d done and that led to birth of bean-to-bar brand Soklet.

Karthikeyan Palanisamy, Co-Founder, Soklet Tree to Bar Chocolate, India.

Progressing from cocoa to chocolate, we offer sparring partner, end to end consulting, implementation and incubation services to help set up bean to bar chocolate units. An introduction to the role of a sparring partner and its difference when compared to a traditional consultant would be worth mentioning at this stage.

A sparring partner is someone who challenges you to think critically and offers a fresh perspective on your ideas and decisions. In the context of business, a sparring partner can play a crucial role in helping you refine your strategies, identify blind spots, and prepare for potential challenges.

Here are some of the key benefits of having a sparring partner in business:

  1. Honest feedback: A sparring partner can provide honest and constructive feedback on your ideas and decisions. This can help you avoid making costly mistakes and improve the quality of your decisions.
  2. Different perspective: A sparring partner can offer a different perspective on your business challenges and opportunities. This can help you see things from a new angle and come up with more innovative solutions.
  3. Challenge assumptions: A sparring partner can challenge your assumptions and force you to consider different scenarios and perspectives. This can help you avoid complacency and stay ahead of the curve.
  4. Accountability: A sparring partner can hold you accountable for your actions and decisions. This can help you stay focused and motivated, and ensure that you are taking the necessary steps to achieve your goals.

Overall, a sparring partner can be a valuable asset in business, providing you with the support and guidance you need to succeed. Our services are aimed at achieving product, process and business excellence and usually include (but are not limited to):

  1. On boarding using our 3 day bean to bar training program – This is our unique consulting approach and we work with the belief that most project failures are attributed to not setting the right expectations. This interaction helps us set the right expectation with the farmer/entrepreuners.
  2. Drawing out a business plan/positioning based on market trends, gaps, opportunity and business fit.
  3. Choosing the right raw materials including cacao bean, sweetness, inclusions, infusions, flavour additives, emulsifiers (based on origin, flavour, value, required end product specifications etc)
  4. Raw Material supplies (International & Indian cacao bean etc)
  5. Equipment / Machinery selection based on flavour, format, quality and quantity requirement
  6. Equipment / Machinery Import & Supplies based on criticality and contribution of each step towards the process.
  7. Providing technical inputs to project/technical teams for machine installations
  8. Location/Site selection based on storage, production and consumer experience goals
  9. Equipment / Machinery installation assistance/inputs
  10. Product Variant/Range/shape/Size selection
  11. Recipe Development/Formulation based on chocolate application
  12. Standardising processes and production schedules
  13. Quality Controls and measures
  14. 1st level staff/operator training
  15. Brand Name Selection, Logo, Trademark, Packaging & Brand consulting
  16. Pricing, Distribution and Marketing Strategy
  17. Consumer Engagement and Education activities

We now provide incubation services to cacao farmers and chocolate brands while assisting in setting up their processing unit. This helps them reduce time taken to market and also gives them time to do product/consumer testing before hand.

Contact us for a detailed discussion on how to improve the post harvest practises of Indian cacao and start up a new cacao / chocolate business venture. nitin@cocoatrait.com and/or +919600064846

Contact us for a detailed discussion on how to improve the post harvest practises of Indian cacao. nitin@cocoatrait.com and/or +919600064846

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Chocolate Yoga. Indulge. Discover.

Kocoatrait Healthy Heart Dark Chocolate

Cacao: An introduction

Cacao can be defined as the forgotten plant medicine or a heart medicine and hence the food of the gods. If Goat or Beer yoga did not sound like your thing, consider practising yoga with chocolate. Yoga and meditation usually result in significantly lesser stress levels and cocoa is a powerful antioxidant which helps to make you feel good, improves your mood, relaxes and de-stresses you, improves brain and memory function, heart health, increases blood flow and gives you energy and so does yoga! Why not combine both? Chocolate + Yoga = Chocolate Yoga! Yoga and chocolate might be a relatively recent pairing. However, the link between chocolate and reaching a higher plane of awareness dates back to cacao’s use among the ancient Mayans and how they consumed cacao during ceremonies! To the Mayans, cacao was considered a “food of the Gods.” Consuming chocolate opened the doors of the heart and the gates of increased consciousness – which are the goals of yoga.

Kocoatrait Chocolate Yoga
Kocoatrait Chocolate Yoga

Benefits of Cacao & Chocolate to Yoga

While chocolate yoga may seem like an excuse to eat more chocolates, there is sufficient scientific support to make this combination a worthwhile try. In recent times, studies have also indicated the capability of certain chemical compounds present in dark chocolate in helping the fight against Covid19. Consuming a bit of 70%+ (cacao %) dark chocolate before a yoga session can help you better get into a calm state of mind and get you into the yogic groove. Dark chocolate is packed with magnesium, which helps your body’s muscles to relax and allows your mind to focus on meditation. Dark Chocolate, contains caffeine, theophylline and theobromine to give you energy boosts and provide you with energy as you go through your series of poses. Chocolate is also an antioxidant, which improves your mood and heart health. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Database of Flavonoid Content provides us valuable data. In each gram of a typical 70% dark chocolate, there is about 1 milligram of flavonoid. In the case of milk chocolate there is only .15 milligram of Flavonoid Content in each gram of chocolate! Source This increases the blood flow to your brain, which in turn can help your concentration and focus, leaving it open to meditation. Every yogi needs that! The recent attribution of dark chocolates to help against Covid has been discussed greatly and if you are keen on studying the science behind what cacao is capable of, kindly read: https://cocoatrait.com/chocolates/best-dark-chocolate-brand-in-india/

Chocolate Yoga
Chocolate Yoga

A typical Yoga Chocolate Session

In chocolate yoga sessions, chocolate is usually consumed at the beginning of a class. Concentrating on the taste and texture of chocolate on your tongue helps you to enter a state of mindfulness. As a start, you could place pieces of chocolates on your tounge (while resisting to bite into it) and meditate on the sensation of it melting and then spend the yoga class exploring the way the chocolate moves through their bodies, spreading its warmth, energy and life force. Consuming a piece of dark chocolate after a yoga session while in a heightened state of awareness can provide you with an elevated chocolate experience. While practising mindful awareness, as as you shift your attention to the present moment, you shall experience your mind unravel a new spectrum of chocolate flavours and sensations. A carefully curated session can help yogis to experience eating chocolate in a more mindful way and trains them to unlock a new spectrum of flavors in chocolate and sensations that chocolate can initiate.

This is the perfect, interesting and engaging way to get your family and friends involved and interested in a session of indulgent yet healthy yoga. Thanks to technology, you can be miles away from your near/dear ones and still host & enjoy a chocolate yoga experience!

L Nitin Chordia, India’s 1st certified chocolate taster

Most of us do not savour chocolates the right way. We have all learnt how to savour wine, coffee fine foods etc but chocolates have not been a subject of interest yet. In this session, you will learn how to appreciate chocolates the right way as we spend more time appreciating chocolates during the session than we usually do otherwise. There is a lot more to read about dark chocolate and this link provides you the required information to make the best choice of your dark chocolate.

There is no compromise of the old-fashioned and traditional way of conducting yoga. Chocolate yoga just adds a bit of fun, learning and health awareness to the process.

Poonam Chordia, India’s 1st certified women chocolate taster

Kocoatrait Heart Healthy Chocolates

At Kocoatrait we are damn serious about how we can contribute to your health. We have curated a Healthy Heart series of 70% + Cocoa chocolates specifically for Yoga enthusiasts. With the principle of ahimsa, which is also related to yoga, we produce the world’s most sustainable and planet friendly chocolate. Little details matter and sets us apart and makes us more consumer friendly and your 1st choice for a chocolate yoga sessions. For instance, we use only non refined desi khand (khandsari) sugar, we roast our chocolate at 117 degrees to ensure that most antioxidants are retained. We stone grind to retain flavour and we do NOT use any single use plastic to wrap our chocolates in! We do all it takes to be planet friendly and we see this as both good for you and the planet. Check out our video of the making of Kocoatrait chocolates here. Click for the Kocoatrait range of heart friendly chocolates here.

Chocolate Yoga
Meditation

Whats next?

As you move forward and integrate more chocolates into your yoga routine, you could shift your consumption to the more serious ceremonial cacao. This is when you take your efforts to the next level and move from just fun filled yoga sessions to serious yoga sessions. The chocolate yoga session sets you up for ceremonial cacao appreciation. Officially, chocolate yoga is now a thing!

How to order Kocoatrait Chocolates?

Shop for Kocoatrait chocolates here. Contact Kocoatrait chocolates at +919600064846 or nitin@cocoatrait.com for more details on chocolate yoga or yoga with chocolates!

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Why choose Bean to Bar Chocolate made in India?

Kocoatrait Range
Kocoatrait Range

10th April 2021, Chennai, India

The year 2021 can be considered a tipping point for the Bean to Bar industry in India. The bean to bar chocolate market in India has witnessed unprecedented growth in the last 2-3 years and is worth about 10 Crores (Cocoatrait Research) in 2021. India currently boasts of around 28 small, medium and large sized bean to bar chocolate makers all demonstrating healthy growth rates and growing at over 40% Y-O-Y on an average. Cocoatrait forecasts that there would be over 40 branded bean to bar chocolate makers by 2022. Interestingly, Covid-19 has only had a temporary dampening effect on the category and there seems to be minimal impact on sales overall in the year 2020.

For the interested, many mass produced industrial chocolates are also made from bean to bar. However, not all. In fact several premium and luxury chocolate brands do not control their entire chocolate making process. They simply buy bulk industrially produced chocolate and melt them, mix certain ingredients and mould them into chocolate bars or other chocolate products. This can be a fairly simplistic process and a bean to bar chocolate maker has a lot on the plate to deal with.

Understanding of how flavours of cacao are impacted by genetic variety (genotype), climate, bean composition, soil type, age of cocoa tree, postharvest treatments of the beans such as fermentation and drying, processing such as roasting, refining, conching, tempering as well as storage and transportation make bean to bar chocolates a balanced mix of both a science and art. This is a very interesting subject for chocolate makers, the trade and consumers alike.

From the supply side, this rise of craft or artisanal Bean to Bar chocolate makers in India has been bought about by the availability of small scale equipments, access to knowledge/technology and availability of raw materials (cacao beans) locally. Consumer exposure towards fine foods and beverages like wine, speciality coffee, teas & beer attributed primarily to increased travel, rise in disposable income, decreased propensity to savings and access to information has driven demand noticeably over the last few years.

In India and even globally, there is a misconception about terms such as “craft,” “fine” “artisanal” or “small batch,” in chocolate and in other food categories. Many chocolate brands available on Indian shelves have been imported and/or finished in India using bulk chocolate made industrially from the bulk variety of beans which are usually imported from bulk cacao producing countries like africa. By alkalising cacao, mass market chocolate manufacturers are able to manipulate the flavour, acidity and colour. This is why mass-market dark chocolate is usually intensely bitter with little flavour complexity and are overly dark in colour. The intense bitterness after alkalising is then offset by adding excessive sugar and also milk (in some cases) to make it more palatable to the masses consuming it as a replacement of traditional sweets! This bitterness becomes evident when you consume a 50% dark chocolate where most of the balance 50% is sugar and the chocolate still remains bitter.

Time needed: 5 minutes

This is why we decided to write this blog post to help understand why it makes more sense to support bean to bar chocolates over mass produced supermarket or imported chocolate brands and why choosing a chocolate made from Indian cacao beans almost becomes a duty of an Indian citizen.

  1. Better for the Farmer


    The reality is that, in the traditional mass market cacao & chocolate value chain, the farmer realises a fraction of the value of the final chocolate product sold. Bean to bar makers pay a premium for better quality beans, mainly because they lack the expertise to process lower quality beans and make fine chocolate with it. It is usually more beneficial that a farmer embraces direct-trade (with the bean to bar maker) rather than fair-trade certifications. When the farmer gets a premium for his beans over the fair trade price, he is able to pay market wages to the labourers working at the farm. In many cases, we have seen farmers forward integrating to become farm to bar makers or as some say soil to bar makers. This certainly ensures that all the value generated is benefitting the farmer directly. Further, farmers are encouraged to improve their post harvesting processes and this helps them increase the value of their produce and make them self reliant.Why choose Bean to Bar Chocolate made in India?

  2. Better for the planet

    Apart from Bean to bar chocolates being beneficial for the farmer, they are also better for the sustainability of the land where it is grown, our planet and the environment overall. Cacao trees thrive in Biodiverse Environments. Bulk cacao for mass-market chocolate is often grown in monocultures, whereas fine flavour cacao used to make bean to bar chocolates, usually rely on varieties grown in polyculture where more than one plant species are grown together and imitate the diversity of natural agroforest ecosystems. It is also believed that cacao when grown polyculture agroforestry systems, also have higher carbon capture capacity benefitting the planet greatly. Further, due to their agility and small size, most Indian bean to bar makers have the ability to practise sustainability in various measures at the farm, in chocolate production process and also in their packaging and distribution.

  3. Better for the Consumer

    As you have observed, bean to bar chocolates are usually better for the farmer, better for the environment, BUT is it better for consumers? Bean to Bar chocolate makers take pride in their high quality and short ingredient lists. A bar of craft chocolate is usually made of cacao, cocoa butter, and sugar. The emphasis for craft chocolate has always been on flavour, texture and taste – which means the cacao is the star of the bar. These chocolates elevate the overall experience of a chocolate bar. With innovative natural flavours and ingredients used, boundaries are expanded and it raises the bar for consumers. This is in contrast to mass market chocolates. Over processing of chocolate leads to loss of vital benefits of cacao in mass produced chocolates. Various studies over the last few years have discovered that cacao is packed with antioxidants and flavanols. Diets high in antioxidants and flavanols have shown to benefit cardiovascular health, provide anti-inflammatory properties and help regulate blood sugar. There is a lot of research which suggests that consuming dark chocolate which is high in cacao has positive implications on stress levels, mood, memory and immunity. However, here’s the catch: not all chocolate contains the same amount of antioxidants. We believe that while it is easy to call chocolate a health product, we remain committed to calling a craft bean to bar chocolate as a healthier alternative rather than a healthier product. What are the health benefits of bean to bar chocolates? How real are they? Click to read more.

  4. Making India Atmanirbhar

    Atmanirbhar Bharat, which translates to ‘self-reliant India’, is the Hindi phrase used in relation to economic development in India. With the rise of bean to bar makers, 100% truly indian chocolates are now being offered. These chocolates made from bean to bar, use only indian ingredients starting from cacao beans, sugar and cocoa butter. Most equipments used are Indian. Indian Stone grinders make for an interesting equipment used for processing. Even the packaging material is 100% made in india. Hence consuming an indian origin bean to bar chocolate helps India remain atmanirbhar and greatly reduces the reliance on imports. The value is generated in india and is consumed in india and hence helps india remain self reliant. This is a very important contribution in helping build the economy.

  5. Supporting local artisans

    Prime Minister of India’s latest slogan “Be vocal about local” has certainly captivated the Indian audiences in the recent past, and rightly so! While chocolate is a lot of fun, making chocolate, especially when you start from cocoa beans all the way to the final chocolate bar, is a difficult job! Bean to bar chocolate makers find the right cacao, establish trustworthy relationships with cacao farmers and to plan the entire supply chain properly. Like for every artisan, precision and patience are keys in trying to achieve the best chocolate possible. Only true passion and the unending drive to supply great products can make them go through so many difficulties. The introduction of local flavours further add an element of innovation and make for interesting offerings. It is our national duty to support bean to bar chocolate makers!

  6. Supporting the Startup Ecosystem and Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises

    Startups and Micro Food Processing Enterprises are small companies but they usually play a significant role in economic growth of a country. They create more jobs and more employment means an improved economy. Not only that, they also contribute to economic dynamism by spurring innovation competing directly with established and larger companies and increase healthy competition which propels consumer spending and hence contribute directly and indirectly to taxes. In the case of bean to bar chocolates, they also help us expand the geographic reach of the products which are traditionally concentrated in urban areas.

  7. Facilitating innovation

    With an ability to make chocolate exciting again, bean to bar chocolate makers have complete freedom to experiment with outrageous flavours, designs, techniques and creations in all aspects and at each stage of the chocolate. This brings new dimensions of flavour, experience and innovation into the process and extends the reach of the category to more consumers.Kocoatrait Zero Waste Chocolate

Video: Bean to Bar chocolate making journey

At this nascent stage of the bean to bar industry in india, one needs to be wary of claims that are being made by chocolate brands who wrongly position themselves as fine, craft or artisanal. While consumers tend to judge a book by its cover (literally), a pretty wrapper is not the best indicator of great flavour or pure craftsmanship. Working with industrially made bulk chocolate and simply melting it to be put on moulds is significantly easier than selecting, sourcing, sorting, grading, roasting, cracking and de-shelling cacao beans! We have added a new post on the current state of the Indian cacao bean and chocolate here.

For Further details contact the author: L Nitin Chordia; +919600064846; nitin@cocoatrait.com

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Difference between Cacao and Cocoa

In india, traditionally, sab kuch chalta hai has been the usual expectation, approach and attitude of both consumers and brands towards claims that are made. The FSSAI and the Advertising Standards Council of India have stepped up a great deal to monitor cases of misleading advertisements and claims in the Food and Beverage sector. However, the recent honey episode clearly exposes how Indian consumers are known to have a careless attitude towards many purchases they make. They do not question most claims and hence many brands take advantage of the loopholes. Coming to the topic of this article, what is the difference between Cacao and Cocoa? Lets dive in!

In almost every consumer interaction I have had in the recent past, i have been asked a question about the difference between Cacao and Cocoa. To start with, the botanical name of the tree on which cocoa pods grow is Theobroma Cacao. It is the bitter seed of this fruit which is processed into chocolate starting from from Bean to Bar. The cocoa pod are first carefully harvested (cut from the tree) and then the pulp which coats the seeds is removed from the pods and put together in the fermentation box for fermentation for 5-7 days and then usually sun dried.

Untill this stage, most of the processes are natural and happen at the farm (except drying using artificial dryers in case of rains) and the beans are referred to as cacao beans. However, once the beans travel and reach the chocolate processing unit, the chocolate maker starts by grading and sorting the beans and roasting them. This is usually the 1st artificial step that is administered on the beans. Till before the roasting stage, the beans are referred to as Cacao beans. Once the beans are roasted, they are usually referred to as cocoa beans. Cocoa usually means beans that have been processed. Post roasting, cocoa (or chocolate) liquor is made by refining the beans and is then pressed to separate cocoa butter and the resultant powder. This liquor is NOT referred to as Cacao liquor, it is referred to as cocoa liquor because it is made from processed (roasted) beans!

As next steps, commercial chocolate manufacturers treat (alkalise) cocoa to get rid of the acidity and bitterness of low quality or mass produced cacao beans that are used. Alkalised cocoa is famously called as Dutch processed cocoa !!! With us being clear about the usage of the term cocoa, let us understand what cacao refers to! Cacao is used as a term for a product that is less processed than other products. To take an example of cocoa powder, if the powder is alkalised, it is called as cocoa powder. However, if it is not alkalised, it can be called as Cacao powder.

However, your insight and inquisitiveness should not stop here! Many health and nutritional experts refer to the usage of cacao as a superfood and in many of their recommendations and recipes without really expanding or explaining on what is the exact product they are referring to! It is researched extensively and believed that Cocoa contains more phenolic antioxidants than most foods. However, most of the antioxidants are available in non processed cacao and the benefits reduce as they are further processed. This means RAW beans contain most of the benefits that have been researched! Roasting and alkalising it results in the most loss of antioxidants. However, we must remember that cacao also contains a lot of fat (50% by weight!). Hence it is useful to press out the fat from it. When pressed, the resultant product is powder. If the beans are not roasted (to retain antioxidants) and powder is pressed, the resultant product is RAW cacao powder and is believed to retain the most antioxidants and the most healthy! Hence it is best to use RAW cacao powder or RAW cacao nibs if the aim is to accentuate health benefits from cacao.

Bakers must also note that baking soda causes an increase in pH and subsequent destruction of flavanol compounds and antioxidant activity. Hence it is best to avoid baking soda in your healthy bakes.