Indian chocolate brands are changing how dark chocolate tastes

The rise of artisanal chocolate India has led consumers to look beyond sweetness, pushing dark chocolate into the mainstream as a healthier, premium, and more versatile choice

Manam Chocolate

This Indian craft chocolate brand offers a range of bean-to-bar dark chocolate including Indian-origin dark tablets, flavoured seasonal bars, and bonbons.

Mason & Co

Founded in Auroville, this brand focuses on organic, vegan, dark chocolate bars (mostly in 49 and 70 per cent), extending its cacao philosophy into pantry staples and granola too.

Naviluna Chocolate

Founded in 2012, this Mysore-based artisanal chocolate brand makes small-batches of bean-to-bar chocolate in experimental flavour pairings with Kerala cacao.

Pascati Chocolate

This craft chocolate brand's USP is how it packages old-school flavours into new-age dark chocolate. Like its 63 per cent dark mango dark chocolate bars which use freeze-dried mango, besides other flavours like paan and guava chilli-sea salt.

Paul & Mike

This artisanal chocolate brand has played a role in bringing ultra-dark chocolate bars into the mainstream, with chocolate made using cacao sourced from farms in Kerala, besides vegan options and date-sweetened chocolates.

Subko Cacao

The artisanal chocolate line by Subko Coffee Roasters, offering include Terroir 72 per cent from Varanashi Farms in Mangalore, Terroir 85 per cent from Mankuva in Konnathady, Kerala, and Terroir 73 per cent from the Subko VLGE Co-op in West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh.

Ziaho Chocolate

With cacao from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh, this Mahabaleshwar-based craft chocolate brand offers a range of dark chocolate in Indian flavours including healthier options that use jaggery (70 per cent Dark Jaggery Plain).

How to tell if the dark chocolate is good

One key indicator of quality is how the chocolate melts. Because cacao butter melts slightly below average body temperature, good chocolate should feel smooth and velvety rather than waxy or pasty. Let it melt, don’t munch.