The market for chocolate in India has been dominated by Cadbury’s for a long time, but a new generation of bean to bar chocolatiers and entrepreneurs are gaining traction. One of these companies is Kokotrait, based in Chennai (if that rings a bell, it was the location of a terrible chemical fire earlier this year that made the news worldwide).
Nitin Chordia was educated in the UK, and holds a Masters in Business Retail Management, working a number of corporate jobs before returning to India to pursue his dream of not only starting a chocolate company, but helping train others to do the same.
His journey started in 2014 when he took a trip to Belgium to learn more about the chocolate industry, but was disappointed by what they offered at the time. It was the famous ‘Mecca’ for chocolate lovers, yet it nothing about it looked particularly special to Nitin. On the trip, however, he found a mentor in Martin Christy, who told him about bean to bar manufacturing and educated him on chocolate tasting.
Nitins operations in India had very humble beginnings, with a small batch of bars taking 3 days to make using a mixture of cheap and sometimes homemade equipment.
When his wife, Poonam, joined him a year later, she had the idea to spread the knowledge he had gained by starting an institute where they could teach others. The institute was ironically a hit among foreigners, but local Indians were more reserved. Deciding to focus on the brand aspects of the business to build credibility, they created Kokotrait, and the company has prospered ever since, helping chocolate makers in India and around the world realise their own dreams.
Nice article, got to know about Bean to Bar from Nitin. Though I am not his student yet. But I follow his great journey.
Srikanth from Chocolate Mantra
(URL removed)