Category: Chocolates

Kocoatrait for the 1st time in India presents inclusive, zero waste and sustainable bean to bar chocolates gifts Inspired by Climate Stripes and contributing to the circular economy specifically designed for the responsible corporate and conscious consumers. The climate stripes is a very strong visual representation of the current issue of global warming and were created by Professor Ed Hawkins at the University of Reading in 2018. Kocoatrait in its Sustainable Corporate Gifts Inspired by Climate Stripes, has used this strong visual where there are No words. No numbers. No graphs. Just a series of vertical coloured bars, showing the progressive heating of our planet in a single, striking image. They show clearly and vividly how global average temperatures have risen over a period of time.

This sustainable gift is designed to help responsible/conscious organisations, brands and consumers use this festive season to help communicate to their business associates and employees the message of global warming in an aesthetic and innovative reusable palm leaf based box and improve internal & external branding. The inclusive palm lead box is made by M.Rm.Rm Cultural Foundation who partner with us for our inclusivity efforts. M.Rm.Rm works primarily with local village women in rural Tamilnadu to revive craft, while at the same time providing them with a reliable source of income, exposure and a tremendous amount of confidence. It organizes workshops for craft communities with craft revival, design and marketing in mind, while at the same time, helping young members of the community finish their schooling. The Foundation also encourages, supports and sponsors students from design schools to research and document crafts and architecture, and facilitates interaction between students and local craft communities.

This palm leaf box contains 4 or 5 paper/plastic free sustainable Kocoatrait single origin organic bean to bar chocolates which operate in and contribute to the circular economy and help reduce landfills. Kocoatrait has prevented 200+ kgs of single use plastics from entering landfills. Kocoatrait chocolates are made using Single origin Indian cacao and are offered in various flavours, inclusions and sustainable ingredients making it the perfect gift during this festive season. The palm leaf box contains the chocolate and the palm leaf box is housed in a innovative reusable outer shipping box. Thus making the entire package a sustainable, reusable and recyclable corporate gift starting at the price of as little as a team lunch! You can click on this link to order the box: https://cocoatrait.com/product/climate-stripes-inspired-palm-leaf-box-4-or-5-chocolate/

Call us on +919600064846 or reach out to us at nitin@cocoatrait.com for further details.

Setting the context, Indian craft chocolates are growing on account of the visible decline in sales of traditional Indian sweets (mithai). Large FMCG chocolate brands have been wooing customers to move away from traditional Indian sweets for years with some absolutely brilliant and award winning communications centered around emotions. The collective efforts around communication about the alternate “meetha” have started to become visible and show fruits in terms of shift in preferences and sales. The shift from sale of “open” Indian sweets in traditional mom and pop shops to pre-packaged branded sweets has lead to small sweet shops facing closures across the country. The beneficiaries of this slow down in sales of Indian sweets have certainly been chocolate manufacturers and startup Indian Bean to Bar chocolate makers where sales growth has been very healthy and in the upwards of 10% annually in case of FMCG players and upwards of 25% annually in case of Bean to Bar chocolate makers. To add to the equation, dark chocolates, which use more cocoa in their recipes have started to become popular and relevant to a larger set of consumers. Mintel research indicates that 38 per cent Indians associate dark chocolate as a premium product while 39 per cent consider it ideal for gifting. The indian craft chocolate brands primarily aim to take away consumers of “imported chocolates”. This has further made the main ingredient (cacao) more relevant to the industry.

Given the market scenario, Indian cacao and its contribution to bean to bar chocolates worldwide is at a very interesting juncture and has been a topic of interest for many and has received its share of criticism in the past. This criticism is for obvious and understandable reasons. The biggest reasons could have been attributed to the lack of exposure of the capabilities of Indian cacao to Indian Journalists and Media in the past. Indian bean to bar chocolates deliver several benefits ranging from contribution to farmer welfare, the economic benefits to the growing country and eventually to consumers good health as well. Read about them here. However, one should point out that the face of Indian cacao and torch bearers for the past several years have been 2 organised efforts which have helped hundreds of bean to bar chocolate makers create award winning chocolates. Certainly worth mentioning are the efforts by Regal Plantations and GoGround Beans & Spices in improving cacao post harvesting protocols and firmly placing India on the global cacao map since 2016. Regal Plantations has literally owned the “Annamalai” origin for many years now and Go Ground has been synonymous to the “Idukki” origin across the world. Their untiring efforts since 2016 has made Indian cacao more popular globally than in India itself and with the Indian bean to bar industry now on the verge of explosion and expansion, their efforts will be commended more than ever before.

We, at Cocoashala, have been consultants in the implementation of 4 of the largest and most active fermentation units in India which have an installed capacity of over 100 tonnes of fine flavour cocoa annually! We have this year (2024) commenced the most technologically advanced cacao post-harvest project in India using our 10+ years of experience in the subject and with a scientific approach towards problem solving. This I thought would be the right time to pen down this thought piece.

Cacao and chocolate have several hundred flavor compounds which make it more complex than grape and wine. Just like how it is believed that doctors know very less about the human body, it is true about cacao as well! It would be fair to say that we are in a phase of initial discovery and research globally. Being involved in cacao research and cacao post harvest protocol implementation over last 5 years in India, I consider myself really privledged. We have just scratched the surface and there is a lot more to learn for everyone involved. To say, Indian cacao beans have already arrived would be a grossly wrong statement to make. It hasn’t stood the test of time and we haven’t produced enough award winning cacao consistently to claim any accolades yet. We won a gold and a few silvers and bronze at the Asia Pacific awards recently but we would like to keep our bar higher. We must note that chocolate is a combination of Cacao, Sugar, cocoa butter & milk and the flavours added to it have impressed the judges and that is being awarded. It is not the cacao from India. When flavours are added, cacao on many occasions become incidental. India has not won awards for their high dark % chocolates yet. I do not wish or intend to take anything away from the awarded chocolate maker but we need to understand what is being awarded. A bean to bar chocolate maker’s intent to pay a tribute to the Indian cacao should be to select the right cacao beans and then either retain or enhance the good flavors that exist in the bean and express them in a non-flavoured dark chocolate. How can this be achieved? Sounds interesting? Read on for more.

To start with some background, India is a very interesting country from a cacao demand & supply perspective. It is among the very few countries that grows cacao and has a large chocolate consuming population as well. This is very uplifting/encouraging. India is perhaps also the only country where you could consume craft (read expensive) chocolates made from the same origin/region (let us take Idukki, Kerala as a good example) and notice dramatically conflicting and different flavor profiles and experience. On one hand, you could enjoy delicate and interesting raisin notes with a clean finish in chocolates crafted by one chocolate maker and with another chocolate makers creation more commonly you would find defective putrid, hammy, cheesy and undesirable notes! This inconsistency of flavour delivery between chocolate makers (mainly due to differences in suppliers) also changes the fundamental opinions of the nascent Indian consumer who wishes to support Indian cacao and chocolate, but, this variation/differential ends up doing a disservice to the origin.

Industrially produced commercial chocolates are made using cacao powder or an intermediate product (cocoa mass) as the base ingredient. In the case of high quality bean to bar chocolates, cacao beans are used as the base raw material. Using powder or mass as a startpoint helps to keep costs low since the ingredients are treated to ensure consistency. Needless to say, the acceptability of the “treatment” is always going to be debated. This is where the plot changes for bean to bar chocolate makers. They have a choice between beans that have been handled (harvested, fermented & dried) well at the farm by professionals Vs beans that have been handled with an intention to be sold to mass market buyers who most often do not intend to make the final chocolate product with them.

As a start, we shall differentiate between fine flavor specialty and bulk cacao. Fermented and dried cocoa beans that possess the potential to unlock interesting flavors after roasting, besides the typical cocoa flavor, are often identified as “fine or flavor” cocoa beans. The highlight of and difference between fine/flavor cocoa and bulk cocoa is in the flavor that the beans can lend to the chocolate. Bulk cacao usually do not boast of any delicate flavors and there is no consistency in their post harvesting practices. Often, beans with flavor defects also pass as bulk cacao.

Globally, only a few origins of cocoa beans are considered as fine flavored cocoa types. This is due to the limited availability of genetic and/or geographic origins of cocoa beans that contain intrinsic fine flavor attributes. While cacao gets identified by the genetics, the post-harvest processes employed enhance the flavor development. Fine flavors in cacao include fruit (fresh, citrus etc), floral, herbal, and wood notes, nut, caramel and cacao notes (Yes! cacao is also a note!).

It is established that fermentation and the process/protocols adopted influences the formation of flavor compounds in cacao. The science and understanding of cacao post harvesting (fermentation and drying) is at its nascency in India and most evolved bean to bar makers even globally are trying to learn as they go along. Improving post-harvest processes, helps farmers get a better value for their produce. India grows only the bulk cacao varieties and Indian cacao farmers have not invested in improving their post-harvest practices. This has traditionally been due to the lack of demand for better processed beans.

Scientifically, the key to producing fine flavor chocolate from fine flavor cacao is consistent availability of the same flavor compounds in cacao. Hence, the focus, as far as cacao is concerned, is on repeatability and consistency in the cacao post-harvest and chocolate production process. In the current nascent phase, Indian craft chocolate makers work with several variables in cacao that are not even understood, monitored, measured or controlled.

As we understand the origin of flavors better, we can note that the flavor of cocoa beans that grow within 20° of latitude on either side of the equator can be significantly different, thus can express the flavor of its country of origin and the practices adopted specific to that geographical area.

In many cacao growing countries where the required genetic varieties are not available, there is now a shift towards enhancing flavor profile by employing accurate post-harvest practices and additional resources to try and get the best out of the bulk variety of cacao. Much like coffee, specialty/craft chocolate producers are now demanding better cacao with variations in notes to make better and more expressive chocolate.

At the very high level, cacao and hence chocolate flavor can vary between and within origins and is influenced by the soil condition, season, microbial population, ripeness of the specific variety of the fruit, pulp reduction, temperatures, humidity, drying protocols, roasting and of course the chocolate recipe and manufacturing process. AND we are not even talking genetics, the amount of sugars available, amount of mass, number of turns, type of wood used in fermentation boxes and last but not the least, the boxes shape & size yet! This makes the post harvesting of cacao very interesting and immersive as a process. The variabilities are huge. Any change in any of the above listed variables impact flavour and this must be carefully observed and controlled if possible.

It might also be pointless talking about cacao varieties in India, because cacao farmers have restricted sources of supply of planting material. Clearly, we are too early in the evolution to be able to understand the impact of terroir on cacao being offered from various states in India. Most cacao farmers in India have small land holdings and do not have the minimum quantity of beans required to process cacao consistently. This means, what you get today would be different in the immediate next batch because the variables differ. To add to that, a typical Indian cacao farm has 3-4 varietals growing in harmony. The way nature has it, farmers cannot ensure that all the varietals are harvested at the same time and processed together because they have a small window during the season. Each variety has a different ripening period, variable sugar levels and flavor capability and hence should ideally be fermented in isolation.

With no defined SOP’s for cacao farmers to follow to produce fine flavour beans and no qualified agency to support this body of knowledge, a google search (or research) seldom provides an understanding of the actual process that should be adopted for maximizing flavor potential and delivering them consistently. To add to the problem, many farmers do not understand the final product (which is chocolate!) How does one expect farmers to improve the acceptability of cacao when they do not understand the application of it? This is extremely difficult and hard to do! Further, most fermentation results in small and inconsistent batches of cacao and does not guarantee any repeatability and consistency of flavours and hence hampers the ability of the farmer to charge higher prices. This is because the variables that impact flavors are either not known or monitored. This in turn impacts the ability of bean to bar chocolate makers to create consistently good products. Almost every cacao batch that is fermented would have differential variables to deal with and would have the potential to help chocolate producers exhibit different flavour notes in each chocolate bar! In a typical milk chocolate, the role of cacao and the manifestations of its defects are limited. The real test of a batch of cacao is when the chocolate maker decides to make a 70+% dark chocolate bar.

Given the current state of Indian cacao and the stage of its evolution, to say that dark chocolate made using cacao from India or even Tamilnadu or Kerala has specific flavor profiles, or label them for flavors on packaging, would be blatantly, scientifically and embarrassingly wrong.

– L Nitin Chordia, India’s 1st Certified Chocolate taster

The most we can perhaps claim at this stage of our understanding and evolution is that a specific batch of chocolates offers a set of specific notes and they may not even exist in the batch of chocolates produced from the next lot of cacao! This inconsistency also makes bean to bar chocolate interesting for both the maker and the consumer.

There are a handful of Indian bean to bar chocolate makers who are trying really hard to deliver their best experiences and it is certain that we will see high growth in the Indian bean to bar chocolate business over the next 5 years. I expect to have over 300 makers by 2025 in India. Hence my suggestion at this stage would be to hold on for a bit before passing a judgement on Indian cacao to let us settle down a bit as a origin and put in place practises that can help us look beyond the Indian shores and knock on the global opportunity map with more consistency. While there may be a long way to go for Indian cacao, chocolate makers would evolve with consistent and more interesting offerings. We can only expect things to look better going forward. We monitor the progress of Indian cacao and chocolates very closely, and would reiterate that:

“When you have good grapes in hand, you decide to make grape juice with it or fine wine!”.

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

Sorry to disappoint, but it is time to break the suspense! The myth that the surrounding plants have an impact on the flavour of cacao is unscientific! The myth that the soil, topography, and climate (terroir) have an impact on the flavor of cacao is unscientific and not proven too! It makes for no story! As they say, the future is bright. In our case, with increased availability of fine flavour cacao beans, the future is about dark chocolates in India.

About L Nitin Chordia and Cocoashala

L Nitin Chordia is India’s 1^st Certified Chocolate Taster and 1^st Indian Judge at the International Chocolate Awards, London and co-founder of Kocoatrait sustainable chocolates. Nitin is a cacao post-harvest professional working with an aim to transform India cacao and doubling farmer income. Nitin is the 1^st Non-founder teacher at the Institute and delivers his lectures in London. Cocoashala is an initiative to promote knowledge, education, production and consumption of fine chocolates in India. Cocoashala also aim to invest in research, development and enhancement of fine chocolate techniques, processes and recipes’.

It is the time of the year when we start to think and resolve about how to make our planet a better place to live in. While making planet friendly and sustainable resolutions for 2022 might seem like a herculean task, a start is important. Both corporates and individuals can become more cognizant of certain actions and efforts and make our beautiful planet a better place to live in. While they say that resolutions are made to be broken, we hope that this year is going to be slightly different and more resolved for each one of us. Kocoatrait presents 30 resolutions which are simple ways to be kinder to the planet. We sincerely hope that you can join us to make a difference.

1. Attempt to go single-use plastic free
2. Less is more! Buy only what you will use, use up what you already have before making new purchases, buy second-hand / Pre Owned / Pre Loved and buy less.
3. Donate items you don’t need/use
4. Try up-cycling and repurpose whatever possible
5. Embrace veganism, vegetarianism and natural food products
6. Shift to less processed/non processed foods
7. Carry and use reusable water bottles, straws and food containers and refuse disposables
8. Use reusable bags/containers for errands
9. Buy products with lesser packaging (support zero waste brands)
10. Minimise food, kitchen and bathroom wastage
11. Reduce kitchen / toilet paper usage
12. Start DIYing your own personal care, cleaning products, or food, like granola or pickled vegetables.
13. Start home composting
14. Support small businesses and prioritise shopping locally
15. Shower less and conserve water
16. Grow your own organic herbs/vegetables
17. Cut down your vehicle’s harmful emissions by taking public transportation, carpooling, biking, e-scootering or walking
18. Clock lesser air-miles. Consider alternates to air travel.
19. Buy sustainable clothing and cut out fast fashion
20. Hang your laundry to dry instead of using the dryer
21. Use natural clothes/home cleaning products
22. Use reusable batteries
23. Refill your home / bath supplies in your existing containers
24. Clean up your e-mailbox as much as you can
25. Take baby steps towards energy conservation at home/office
26. Upgrade to greener devices. A laptop, for example, uses lesser energy than a computer!
27. Unplug or Switch off the mains of the gadgets/electronics that are not being used
28. Plant as many trees as you can
29. Take prints only when necessary and use paper made from agrowaste
30. Volunteer to help execute sustainability initiatives

These are only a few ways to help contribute to the betterment of the planet. You are requested to do more! At Kocoatrait we request you to meet us half way and help us in our efforts to save the planet by returning and recycling our wrappers and reusing our cardboard box. Learn more about us: https://cocoatrait.com/about-us/

About Kocoatrait: 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. Our aim of being planet concious in our actions and the support of our planet concious consumers have been very rewarding and have helped us save 200+ kgs of single use plastic/laminated chocolate wrappers from being dumped into landfills to date! This is our measure of the impact of our Circular Economy Model on climate change! Click for Kocoatrait range of chocolates

Extended Producer Responsibility India is a recent initiative of the Government of India. Kocoatrait, India’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/

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 +919600064846; nitin@cocoatrait.com