A chocolate collection bursting with the taste of Tamil Nadu

Chennai-based start-up Kocoatrait is pushing the bar when it comes to chocolate flavours! Imagine chocolates bursting with the taste of Mor Miligai (green chilli marinated in yogurt and sun-dried); Panakam (jaggery-based cooling drink); filter coffee and Malligai (jasmine).

Kocoatrait’s Madras Collection — a limited edition set of nine exotic flavoured chocolate bars — is inspired by local tastes. “The collection of sustainable beans to bar chocolate gift boxes is a tribute to the city of Madras,” says L Nitin Chordia, Co-founder of the company.

The aim behind the limited edition collection, he says, was to be the most inclusive and exclusive gift box and deliver to the audience the various flavours of Tamil Nadu in a manner that has never been done before — with chocolate as a medium. The box is priced at ₹3,450 .

The other flavours in this collection are Sukku Malli Kaapi (a concoction of herbs and spices); Kozhukkattai (traditional South Indian sweet dumpling); Sarkarai Pongal (a rice sweet dish made with moong lentils, ghee, jaggery, cardamom and nuts); Panai Sarkarai (palm sugar) and Paneer Roja (rose water made with a special flower preserve).

Eco-friendly packs

The individual chocolate bars come wrapped in ecofriendly upcycled cocoa shell material. The wrappers are printed using water-based ink at the company’s partner institute V-Excel Educational Trust, which skills and supports citizens with special needs. The company has also printed a few artworks made by differently-abled artists on the inside of the wrapper.

Additionally, the inside of the wrapper has pictures of art forms like Bharatanatyam and instruments used in traditional South Indian music. The nine chocolate bars come in a palm leaf-based reusable box.

The wrappers also carry information on nine sustainability initiatives originating in Chennai.

These range from Arture: Sustainable and vegan accessories with 100 per cent plant-based materials; Papermelon: Sustainable jewellery and decor handicrafts from up-cycled paper, and Solar Suresh: An individual who leads a life off the grid.