Rich, Dark, Spreading Fast

India's craft-chocolate makers are breaking the mould. Finer beans, smoother textures and local flavours are winning global prizes. Your childhood treat is growing up. Take a bite

- Shirin Mehrotra

Take a slow stroll past the chocolate aisle of a gourmet store or supermarket and watch the revolution unfold. Racks that once stocked brands from the UK, US, Australia, Japan and Europe, now proudly hold chocolate that's grown, processed and made in India.

This isn't the birthday freebie from schooldays past. India's craft-chocolate industry now extends to more than 50 brands, which produce small-batch bars largely using cacao beans grown in south India. Most brands aren't much more than a decade old. Expats took the first risks, training farmers to grow better beans, produce finer bars. Locals have followed suit. And unlike snooty Swiss brands, which go on and on about tempering and texture, local chocolate companies are determined to champion artisanal methods and Indian flavouring.

Mysuru-based Naviluna (formerly Earth Loaf) has been around since 2012 and makes a chocolate with caramelised sweet lime and caraway. Soklet, established in 2015 in Coimbatore, has one with 72% dark chocolate, hibiscus and pumpkin seeds. Manam Chocolate, which launched in Hyderabad last month, infuses some bars with pedda rasalu mangoes. An India raised on milky, sugary Dairy Milk, is getting excited about dark chocolate infused with sourdough, ghee, jamun, Balkan rose, beetroot halwa, Sula wine, even paan.