Growing up, Vibha Jhunjhunwala was fond of indulging in chocolates such as Hershey’s, Lindt and Godiva among others. They would literally melt in her mouth! So, when her kids grew up, the enterprising lady saw an opportunity to start something of her own when she saw the dearth of premium chocolates in the market. “In the early 2000s, the story of the Indian chocolate industry began where brands began to introduce a lot of different chocolate variants. Apart from Cadbury and Nestle, there were several other small brands that started selling homemade chocolates which served as great gifting options. This clicked my mind immediately and there began my thought to introduce some luxurious and tasty chocolates to India,” she says.
Thus, was born Le Pure Chocolates. From fulfilling small orders for friends and family, Le Pure has grown to become the gifting partner to more than 50 organizations and has live counters and a retail presence at top gourmet stores in the country. From Single-origin bars sourced from different regions to the delicious Toffee collection featuring creations like Mango Bite, Almond Florentine, Pistachio Florentine, Almond Roca and English Toffee, to the Dragées Collection which is a celebration of luxurious nuts coated with smooth, silky chocolate and the decadent Truffle Collection, Le Pure’s heart and art lies with fine chocolate. The Founder of the brand chatted with TMM for some chocolatey revelations. Edited excerpts:
You trained under various chefs in Europe, USA and India. Can you tell us what inspired you to do that and also take us through your training days and what you learnt from them?
I started my journey with the best institute in the country that is Callebaut India. I eventually wanted to learn from premier institutes like Le Cordon Bleu, Paris but due to my kids, I wasn’t able to move for a year at a stretch. Hence, I decided to learn short courses under renowned chocolatiers from the USA, France and Italy. Learning from them is all about always keeping the standards high in your kitchen with the best technology, technique and ingredients.
How did the idea of setting up Le Pure come to you? What was the idea behind it and its USP, according to you?
I grew up to realise that there were very few people who could understand the difference between good and pure chocolate which prompted me to come about with the idea of Le Pure. I started off by creating English Toffee, my first creation which was received very well by people. Here on, I received huge corporate orders which led us to set up a large-scale production facility and bring the best of technology from the USA and France.
What have all your years of experience taught you about the Indian palate when it comes to chocolate? Tell us how you have managed to marry the techniques with flavour to appeal to the pan-India consumer.
The Le Pure chocolates market in the country is steadily moving towards hand-rolled truffles, dark chocolates and pralines. We constantly try to use new flavours and spices in our chocolates to experiment with 
flavours that would please the Indian audience. We use classic techniques with Indian flavours such as mango, pistachio, rose, paan which have been blended with chocolate imported from chocolate rich countries like Ghana, Sao Palem, Madagascar, Ecuador and Sao Thome. This results in offering the Indian audience the flavours they usually prefer but upgrading them and refining with the use of rich chocolate. In recent years with clients’ expectations on a record high, we try to make our products stand out by making hand-painted bonbons, coloured dragees, customised boxes, ribbon cards and also delivering their curated boxes at their doorstep.
Can you tell us a bit about the process that goes behind making these fine chocolates?
Honestly, making fine Le Pure Chocolates is a science that requires a lot of perfection and attention to detail. The process involves the chocolates being tempered at a particular temperature, moulded and then cooled. Different kinds of collections have different processes. For instance, bonbons require panning, where we roast the nuts in slow roasters, coat them with chocolate followed by polishing them which amounts to a three-day process. Whereas when it comes to our spreads, they are made in conching machines which take approximately 6-7 hrs of fine grinding.
What are some of your personal favourite flavour combinations and products from Le Pure?
My personal favourite has to be the pecan coffee gianduja from the praline collection, where coffee concoction is used with caramelised pecan along with 70 per cent dark chocolate. My second favourite is rose and pistachio bonbon where we use pure pistachio paste with rose and raspberry compote.
Where can one avail the products and what are some of your expansion plans for the company?
We are present at more than 50 gourmet stores pan India. As for the expansion plans, in the next two years we would like to cover all the cities and start exporting our artisanal chocolates.
The post Art of Fine Chocolate: Le Pure Chocolatier appeared first on TMM.