Learning is a never-ending process and for those who are ready to learn, inquisitiveness is the key to new avenues of success. Similar is the story of Delhi-based couple Sheetal Saxena and Nishant Kumar Sinha, who are involved in the coffee business and are behind the Roastery Coffee brand in Hyderabad and Kolkata. In 2020, their inquisitiveness resulted in the talk of the town venture Colocal-The Cacao Artisans that gives you a bean to bar experience. In a tête-à-tête with TMM, Sheetal Saxena talks about the success story of the brand.
How did the idea of Colocal Chocolate happen to you both?
As they say, inquisitiveness is a good thing so the idea of Colocal started with inquisitiveness. We saw a gentleman roasting cacao beans on a roaster. Till then we didn’t know it was cacao beans. As Nishant is a roaster himself, it got us all inquisitive about it. We started researching more about it. As Nishant was busy with Roastery Coffee House then, I continued with the research about chocolate making which led us to Colocal.
You both come from a different background, how that helped in building the brand?
Nishant comes from the F&B industry and running the Roastery Coffee House cafes successfully from last 7 years, he comes with a lot of experience which has helped us and made Colocal what it is today. He is also a professional coffee roaster and coffee educator which have helped us in understanding the cacao beans better and roast them better and come up with the best product. I, on the other hand, come from a finance background which has definitely helped us in managing our finances better but as far as the F&B industry is concerned, I absolutely hold no prior experience which worked in our favour as it brought a fresh perspective of looking at things. As I didn’t know the norms of the industry, we did all that we loved and that’s what makes Colocal different.
Tell us about the signature cacao and dark chocolate making process at Colocal.
We source the Cacao from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, these two regions are an obvious focus area for getting the best quality Cacao, grown in India. Once the beans are plucked from the Cacao tree, they are then taken to the facility for processing and subsequently transferred into wooden boxes for 
fermentation. It is a six-day process and the beans are fermented at a high temperature to get the right flavour. After fermentation, the beans are left for 3-4 days to dry completely before the process of roasting starts. Roasting is the most important yet momentous part of the entire process. It brings out the desired flavour, taste, colour, etc. of the cacao beans. Once the beans cool down, they are cracked open and separated. Then the Cacao nibs are crushed and sugar is added to make the final chocolate bars. After the Cacao nibs are crushed and made into chocolate liquor, they are further conched to remove the acidic acids from the bar for a better after taste. Tempering is the final step and this is what decides the final finish look and taste of the chocolate. All chocolates are tempered at different temperatures and are packaged and distributed around the world. The entire process of making a bar out of roasted cacao beans takes up to 72 hours.
Colocal is a zero-waste company. Comment.
Yes, Colocal is a zero-waste company. The Cacao bean comprises two elements, the bean and the shell. We use the bean to make the chocolate and husk/shell is used to brew cacao tea which is full of antioxidants and nutrients and is a super drink.
Is Colocal only focusing on retail sales or you have plans of building B2B sales as well?
We have plans to make our mark in both the retail and B2B market. We also intend to create the finest baking chocolate made from Indian origin beans for people to bake with, however, we intend to take this slow, one step at a time.
Apart from Hot Chocolate, what is your favourite at Colocal and why?
We love our Cacao Cold Brew, it’s refreshing and one gets to taste chocolate in a very different way. One can easily make out the notes in the chocolate with cacao brew which recognizes our work that we are very proud of.
What are your future plans for Colocal?
The craft chocolate world is still at a nascent stage. We aim to redefine the chocolate industry and educate people as we go along. We aim to put Indian cacao on the world map by offering the finest Indian chocolate.
The post Chocolate Calling : Colocal-The Cacao Artisans appeared first on TMM.