F&B

Tingling the taste buds of India

A flood of premium and super premium brands of chocolate is due and Indian hospitality, it seems, is ready for it, finds Rupkamal Sarma.

Chocolates of every hue are taking over the market and the industry says it has enough takers. DS Rao, regional sales manager of Dukes Chocolates, says "The concept of eating chocolates was not routine but people started taking to them with changes in the economy."

India as a chocolate producer contributes to just about one per cent of the world production, mainly because the cocoa fruit necessary for extraction of chocolate powder is not grown here in enough quantity but is imported in bulk from countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast and Belgium. But according to Rao, consumers are willing to try Indian brands if they get the twin benefits of price and quality.

Imtiaz Khan, pastry chef and technical manager of Delta Nutritive Foods, shares the same enthusiasm about the influence of chocolates in the Indian market. "You will find chocolates everywhere around you. Right from ice creams to pastries, chocolate is definitely changing the palette of the people," he says.

Delta, which imports chocolate from Belgium, is trying to usher in a new concept in India, the concept of replacing sponge-based cakes and pastries with fruit fillings. Khan says, "Sponge-based cakes and pastries are on their way out. What we are trying to do is introduce cakes and pastries with less of sponge and more of chocolate, center-filled and flavoured chocolates that are already popular in the west. Chocolates have become an important part of meals for travellers in places like Ooty, Delhi and Mumbai."

The demand for cocoa in both international and domestic markets is increasing rapidly with the chocolate manufacturing industries in India projecting a demand of 30,000 tonnes in 2005. In India the centres for cocoa growth are all in Karnataka in South India while Mysore, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore, Hassa, Tumkur Chitradurga and Davangere are the centers of cocoa production.