Taking a bite of happiness: Is chocolate the new mithai in India?

From self-indulgence to a suitable gift for both formal and casual get-togethers, chocolates are the new mithai people are craving for. No wonder they are trending hot in the gifting circuit

Down in the dumps? You need a bar of chocolate to perk you up! Up on cloud nine? Chocolate is your perfect way to celebrate! Want to carry a little something for someone and are at wits’ end deciding what? Chocolates, again, come to your rescue as a uber-cool solution! No wonder they are always trending hot in the gifting circuit.

According to an analyst at Euromonitor International, a market research provider, premium chocolates compete with traditional Indian sweets and are the preferred gift option during Indian festivals. These are currently popular in boxed assortments, count lines and tablets, while a small number of imported chocolate pouches and bags are also sold in India.

Chocolates do come in different types — milk chocolates are sweet and also contain milk powder or condensed milk; white chocolates contain cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, but no cocoa solids; dark chocolates are produced by adding fat and sugar to the cocoa mixture. Many of the premium and luxury brands like Godiva and Lindt are still imported; the best chocolates are either Swiss, Belgian or French.

The richer, the better: Chocolatier Zeba Kohli, who has been concentrating on awareness and palate development through chocolate experiences and workshops, says that India is still a nascent market. She says that good chocolate is usually determined by the percentage of cocoa, as well as the quality of beans. Preparation also matters — roasting, final blend, and so on. Says 35-year-old chocolate connoisseur and entrepreneur Ritu Narang: “The first noticeable difference is that gourmet chocolate is usually way smoother than “industrial” chocolate bar. You don’t ever have to “chew” it; it just dissolves in your mouth. The better the chocolate, the smoother it is. And a nice bonus: you have to eat way less (in terms of raw weight) to become satisfied. The moment you take a bite of these chocolates, there is a rich blast of cream, crust and nuts in your mouth. You feel delighted and engaged with every bite you eat. In simple words, the richness, quality and pure flavours of the best chocolates make them stand out.”

As against this, the industrial chocolate is made both through a different process and uses different ingredients. Often, industrial chocolates also use higher levels of sugar (it’s cheaper than cocoa), milk solids in place of milk, and artificial vanillin in place of natural vanilla. Industrial processinalso tends not to yield as smooth a product.

A spokesperson for Choko la says: “Ours is couverture chocolates made using cocoa liquor and cocoa butter, tempered in-house and all handcrafted. Our pure handcrafted artisanal chocolates come in many varieties costing Rs 100 to Rs 10,000 for quantities ranging from 70 gm to 1,500 gm.”

What do Indians prefer? Experts say that the Indian taste has really evolved through media and increased travel. Moreover, imported products in modern trade and food shows encourage Indians to experience and try new innovations. But they have a special affinity for caramel-infused chocolates, says Kohli. “Having said that, however, I must admit that there is certainly a surge in demand for darker variants of chocolates, no-added-sugar, Keto-friendly and gluten-free varieties.”

 

For Lindt & Sprüngli, a global leader in the premium chocolate sector, famous for its Lindor balls, the Lindt Gold Bunny and Excellence bars, the offerings tend to cater to particular country-specific taste preferences. Aron P Schneider of Lindt & Sprüngli (International) says: “Among our best-sellers, the Lindor ball is still the most successful Lindt product.” Every year, many different flavours and formats are introduced, such as Lindor Mint last year in England and Lindor Matcha in Asia.

Sharing an insight into how it is crafted, Schneider says the Lindt difference rests on its five key pillars that make it exceptional. “The finest cocoa, best ingredients beyond cocoa (to maintain delicious roasting aroma, for example, nuts are roasted in-house and freshly worked into the chocolate) unique roasting and grinding, and the Lindt invention (in 1879, Rodolphe Lindt revolutionised chocolate making with ‘conching’, an intense mixing of heated liquid chocolate to create smooth Lindt chocolate texture).” 

Attention to detail in packaging is important for all brands, and as important as the product itself nowadays. This is more so in the space of premium to luxury chocolates.