If you were lucky, you got a box of Lindt chocolates from your generous friend or relative who had returned from foreign shores. Otherwise you munched on a Cadbury, Nestle or Amul bar of sweetened cocoa. But that was way back then. Now you don?t have to restrict yourself to a toss up between a Fruit and Nut flavour or good old milk chocolate. There just might be a speciality chocolate store down the road from where you stay that can offer you a far wider choice. And no, it isn?t the kind that sells brown little squares you find difficult to sink your teeth into. It?s the kind that you always fantasised would be waiting for you in your refrigerator when the chocolate craving got bad.
Stand-alone chocolates outlets are mushrooming in the metros like never before. Those with a yen for business have boned up on the fact that there is a large number out there who are willing to pay up for quality chocolates. There is another factor too. It?s fashionable now to gift chocolates. So whether it is Diwali, Holi, Valentine?s Day, Mother?s Day, or a wedding, it?s trendy to give a box of chocolates instead of laddoos. Corporate houses also feel they make their clients happy when they gift them a box.
Typically, because of the minimal use of preservatives, speciality chocolates have a shelf life of about 15 days to a month. And what?s on offer isn’t easy on your pocket. It has certainly got a price tag that?s higher than say what a mass-produced Cadbury bar would cost. But if you are a chocoholic, chances are you run the risk of getting hooked onto these very soon. ?Indians are very price sensitive and first-timers to my outlet are taken aback by how much the chocolates cost. But then they keep coming back,? says Vasudha Munjal, owner, Choko La, who has recently opened her second outlet in Delhi?s Khan Market. So a 25-piece box of assorted chocolates would make you lighter by Rs 700. Munjal points out that the chocolates that come out of her kitchen are high on couverture, which is why they melt on your fingertips ? the sign of quality.
Chocolates meant for adults is how Sanjiv Obhrai pitches his brand, The Chocolate Boutique, Chocolatiers. Opened five years ago, so far he has one outlet in Delhi but what is interesting is the way the sales have mounted up. Check this out: ?We started out making 10 kg of chocolates a day and today, during festive seasons, we make 200 kg a day.? Obhrai admits summer is a lean time for chocolate sales, but it is primarily by word of mouth that people have been coming to him. So whether it is his neighbourhood friends or corporate orders from Kingfisher, Samsung or Cartier, Obhrai?s staff is busy rolling out the sweet stuff in a variety of flavours ? from orange, coffee, wild berries to those that are nut-based and a range of truffles.
Cashing in on India?s sweet tooth is the internationally well-known brand Patchi Chocolates too, which set up shop in Mumbai two years ago. Confident they would do well in the future, they have now opened a second outlet, this time in Delhi. An impressive 32 varieties by Patchi is what?s on offer right now says the company?s country head, Chetan Gokal. And as far as what Indians are partial to, he says we go for soft-centred chocolates and those with nuts. ?It?s because we use only cocoa butter, not cocoa mass, that our chocolates are so creamy,? says Gokal.
Then there is the attractive packaging that makes all the difference. Gokal says they have a whopping 15,000 varieties of packaging, which range from as low as Rs 50 and could go up to Rs 1 lakh. Ribbons and boxes for the gifting also are done in-house. Now for the pricing ? for a kilo of chocolates, the rock bottom price is Rs 2,500. And the good news is now Indians have the money to buy the stuff.
But according to Zeba Mitha Kohli, who runs the, hold your breath, 70-year-old Fantasie Fine Chocolates in Mumbai, with some 40 varieties to choose from, ?Currently chocolates are a fad. It is primarily young adults who are buying this, trying to be different from their parents who would have preferred traditional sweets perhaps, as a gifting option.? She feels it is thanks to the media that chocolate gifting has become chic.
Whether it is the media that has made chocoholics of us or that Indians are getting fastidious about what tickles their taste buds is a question that will be difficult to answer. But seeing the way boxes of this so far western sweetmeat are being snapped up, many have realised it makes good business sense to sell ?home-made chocolates?.
Take Priyanka Malhotra?s case for instance. She owns and manages Caf? Turtle, a restaurant in New Delhi. But seeing the current craze for chocolates, she put out about 500 boxes this Diwali. This was with the help of a friend who had attended a workshop on how to make chocolates. ?We plan to do this for Christmas too. I don?t want to make them throughout the year as the shelf life of these chocolates is short. It?s nice to see people coming in, ordering a cup of coffee and with that, a chocolate.?
For those watching their waistlines, there is the option of diet chocolates too. As Obhrai says: ?I?m not selling to a fool who doesn?t know that chocolates are fattening. So there are those who can try out our chocolates which have a sugar content that is 30% less than what most other chocolates would have.?
For vegetarians, there are chocolates that are eggless too.
So next time you want a sugar fix and you are thinking “chocolates”, brace yourself. There are just too many options out there. Making a choice will be difficult.