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“Bean to bar chocolate makers to experience exponential growth”
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Monday, 12 June, 2023, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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 Kocoatrait is the world’s first sustainable luxury zero waste, single origin, organic and planet- friendly bean to bar chocolate contributing to the circular & green economy. The brand was conceived with an aim to enable aspiring Indian citizens to adopt a zero waste lifestyle. Our aim of being planet-conscious in our actions and the support of our planet- conscious consumers have been very rewarding and have helped us save 200+ kg 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, said L Nitin Chordia, India's first certified chocolate taster and co-founder of Kocoatrait and Cocoashala in an email interview with Nandita Vijay. Excerpts:
How has Kocoatrait bean to bar Chocolates India fared so far?
The trading company: Advanced Motor Care was started in 2014 and the Chocolate Brand: Kocoatrait came about in 2018. This company was founded by Poonam & L Nitin Chordia.
By our own standards we have fared quite well and as expected. The measure of our success is the amount of single-use plastic we prevent from being used. We have so far saved 200+ kg of single-use plastic from entering land fills. We are set up and positioned well for organic growth and this strategy will help us drive Kocoatrait forward.
You have positioned the brand as the world's first vegan, ecofriendly, zero waste, sustainable, plastic free chocolate, what has been the positive outcome of this?
Our positioning is very unique and is intended to be relevant to the new-age consumer who values a brand’s efforts towards sustainability and planet friendliness. This positioning has helped us stay away from the clutter and attract a set of consumers who are very rewarding. Also, it helps us stay away from competition and keep focus on the actual cause. It has also helped us demonstrate to several others that taking an easy path is not always the road to success. It has made marketing our product simpler and easier in this crowded marketplace.
How has the company been able to sustain its operations with chocolates only?
In India, chocolate is a very profitable and sustainable business with a very healthy growth forecast. Demand outstrips the supply in most circumstances in India. The challenge is not the demand. It is the supply. A lot of our energy is spent in ensuring constant supply.
Where is your production unit and research centre? Share details on these in terms of infrastructure and location.
We are based in Chennai and operate an institute called Cocoashala. This is an incubation centre where we nurture other brands and businesses, an R&D centre where we are constantly innovating with chocolate, offer bean to bar chocolate making training and new product development services. We think of ourselves as a startup for/of startups. We also currently use the same facility for our production. The facility has all the equipment required to process cacao beans into chocolate, as we say, from bean to bar! The unit produces 200+ kg of chocolate per month and is an example of frugal innovation at work and what India is capable of in terms of machinery, techniques and technology. We have borrowed, adopted and adapted a lot from other processing industries and our students and clients benefit tremendously from this expertise.
How successful and responsive have the training programmes in chocolate making been?
We created Cocoashala as a startup for startups and we are proud to say that we have now trained 130 individuals as part of our intensive 3-day training programme on bean to bar chocolate making. We operate only one batch every month and we always have a waiting list of students. We have handheld several brands after the training programme and are also in the process of incubating a few brands at Cocoashala. The training programme very appropriately addresses the needs of an aspiring entrepreneur and helps them not only get started but also establish their dream chocolate production unit. This was a clear gap we saw when we started our training programmes five years ago. There are already 10 bean to bar chocolate brands in India for which we can say that we have significantly contributed to their success. Our aim was to place India on the world chocolate map and we have achieved our objectives as we have progressed.
What is the impact of this brand globally?
We constantly receive communication from several international startup brands that they see us as an inspiration and they look up to us. The aim of this brand is to inspire both consumers and our peers who wish to do more towards saving the planet!
How much of your participation in international and national exhibitions been to accelerate the growth of the products?
As a sustainable brand the positioning we have taken is to be available to consumers who wish to find us. we do not reply too much on social media but our own website helps people discover us. Our target audience is very defined and is not the discount seeker. Most people who aligned with the aim of saving the planet appreciate our work and find us rather than we having to find them.
How would you describe the scene for chocolate making industry in India?
The chocolate making industry in India is quite diverse. We have homemade chocolate makers who use compounds for their offerings, we have commercial chocolatiers who might use pure chocolate for their offerings and then there is this new wave of bean to bar chocolate makers which we represent. While every category is growing and will continue to grow but the bean to bar chocolate makers are the ones that are going to experience exponential growth. The good news is that chocolate is occupying its space in the gifting sector and also dark chocolates are gaining popularity. This also translates to the fact that consumers are willing to pay a premium for chocolates in India.
How lucrative is this business for entrepreneurship and what is lacking in India to still make it a small-scale industry?
Bean to bar chocolate making is perhaps the highest growth category within chocolates and confectionery. In the true sense bean to bar chocolate making is already a small-scale industry. The return on investment for a bean to bar chocolate maker is quite high but the challenge is to control the supply chain as they grow. Clearly not everyone will be able to achieve that. I would like to compare a bean to bar chocolate maker to an Indian mithaiwala who could have one shop and still survive and continue to grow. The best for bean to bar chocolate makers is yet to come!
What are the visible trends you sight in space?
Transparency, sustainability and clean ingredients are the three visible trends we see in the bean to bar chocolate space. It might be surprising to note that these are the same trends seen overseas as well. it is fair to say that India has arrived.
What are the challenges that this industry encounters?
Any industry that grows cannot see challenges as pure challenges but needs to see them as opportunities. This is exactly how the bean to bar chocolate industry has been approaching issues or situations. Every challenge can quite easily be addressed given that we have access to technologies that can help solve them and that there is a demand for the product in the market.
What are the likely future efforts of your company to grow the business ?
Enhanced or Increased focus on transparency, environmental sustainability and inclusivity can very easily ensure sustained growth and profitability for our business and brand. Hence, we will continue to focus on these areas.
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