OT Staff
World Chocolate Day is celebrated on July 7 every year. This delicious treat was first cultivated in South America at least 5,300 years ago. India is home to various artisanal chocolate brands that make single-origin chocolates. Here are 10 of the best you should purchase.
With no preservatives, additives or refined sugar, their cacao beans are grown under ethical and sustainable conditions by skilled Indian farmers. Try their bestselling All Things Breakfast (64 per cent Malabar dark chocolate with coffee and biscotti) bar.
Their chocolate factory sources single-origin beans from the Idukki district in Kerala which is then topped with Omani dates to create a range of dark chocolate bars that are healthy and lip-smackingly good. Try their 71 per cent dark chocolate bar.
This company prides itself on prioritising people, the planet, plants, performance and then profits. Their single-origin and organic chocolates come in plastic and wood pulp-free packaging. Try their bestselling 55 per cent dark milk Irish cream coffee bar.
The highly skilled workforce at Mason and Co consists of an all-female team who are trained in the art of chocolate making. The farms they work with in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are certified by the USDA, the EU and India Organic. Sample their 70 per cent chilli cinnamon chocolate bar.
This bean-to-bar chocolatier makes its products by hand in Mysuru. Formerly called Earth Loaf, Naviluna claims to be one of the first chocolate makers in the world to use organically certified Indian cacao beans exclusively. Pick what you like from their “Almost Dark” range.
Colocal is India’s first live chocolate factory in Delhi. They use only two ingredients to make their chocolates: Indian cacao beans, which are ethically sourced, and cane sugar. Visit their 65-seater premises or buy their 85 per cent single-origin dark chocolate online.
Pascati makes its chocolate bars in small batches like other chocolatiers on this list. They source their cacao beans from Kerala and process them in a carefully controlled environment to achieve complex flavours. Buy their orange cinnamon hazelnut and blueberry walnut bars.
This chocolatier is an environmentally and socially conscious gourmet producer of dark chocolates, cacao derivatives and nut butters. Buy their 65 per cent to 70 per cent intense dark chocolate pack of four bars online.
With a 75-year-old legacy, Fantasie has been crafting chocolates since 1946. Truffles, creamy milk chocolate and soft-centred pralines have been some of the brand’s signature creations. Try their 70 per cent dark chocolate with sea salt almond.
Kokomaē produces an array of chocolate delicacies like Belgian bars, dragées, truffles, bonbons, spreads and bean-to-bar chocolates from their plantations in the Idukki district of Kerala. Try their 70 per cent dark chocolate and 60 per cent dark chocolate bars.