When you step inside Cococart’s flagship store in Mumbai, you will be forgiven if you think you have stepped into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory! The brand’s co-CEOs, Karan and Arjun Ahuja who 
started Cococart in July 2020 as an online portal, went a step further and established a couple of brick-and-mortar stores across 4 cities within a short span of time. Their flagship store in Mumbai houses some of the most delicious and decadent chocolates in the world. CocoCafé, their luxury bistro next door with a menu curated by Chef Karishma Sakhrani, serves delectable delicacies, both sweet and savoury. We caught up with the founders and the chef to find out a bit more about the brand’s offerings.
Cococart launched in 2020 as an online portal. Tell us about the response and what prompted you to follow that up with a brick-and-mortar presence?
Karan and Arjun: Cococart went live on the 20th of July, 2020 and we were immediately blown away by the incredibly positive response to our website. As we grew our presence across the country, so too did the need to reach our customers beyond their phone screens. Especially since online shopping, according to a recent JP Morgan report we read constitutes only 2.9 per cent of all retail sales. This number is forecasted to see a CAGR of 26.5 per cent in 2021 and we will, of course,be here to ride that upside. However, we soon realised that a symbiotic relationship was possible between our online and offline platforms. Brick & Mortar authenticates our brand in the mind of a consumer. 
Chocolate is also a major impulse purchase, which is something we get to play to with an offline presence. So, it seemed only fitting that our first brick and mortar store was in a place with naturally high footfall: Kolkata Domestic Airport. A week later we opened doors at Ambience Mall, Gurugram and a week after that at Quest Mall, Kolkata. Now we have 8 brick and mortar stores across 4 cities and a cafe at our flagship in Mumbai!
Do tell us a bit about the process of selecting and curating the chocolates and how you manage to deliver them in mint condition to the customers?
K & A: Our decades of retail experience have given us the necessary strategic advantage. However, we’ve also been quick to adapt to changes in data. We study what’s sold at the end of every single 
day. Our business intelligence team is constantly tracking what’s moving and what’s not, and what’s helped is that we’re fast to react with changes in the assortment. We’ve taken bets on brands and watched most unfold in our favour. With respect to delivery, we’ve developed an end-to-end cold storage solution. The chocolates are stored in mint condition across our 4 warehouses that cover all corners of the country: Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Hyperlocal delivery is strictly monitored to ensure the chocolates reach melt free since that’s typically been the biggest hurdle for anyone that’s attempted to deliver chocolates.
The cafe alongside the flagship store in Mumbai is a great idea. How did you guys come up with that?
K & A: When Cococart went live on the 20th of July, 2020 in our first city, we had no plans on expanding offline. The focus was on growing our e-commerce across the length and breadth of the country and expanding our assortment of confectionery. A mix of us being blown away by the incredibly positive response to our website mixed with Arjun’s passion for brick and mortar came together with the birth of our new vertical: Brick & Mortar. As talks started, the idea of a cafe led us to pay homage to Mumbai and to our chocolates. With an equal focus on the sweet and savoury menu, patrons can expect CocoCafé to please in an effortlessly chic manner—fancy without the fuss! Cococart’s in the business of delivering happiness and CocoCafé is a celebration of exactly that. With an eclectic all-day menu comprising savouries, desserts, Godiva coffee beverages and chic shakes – 
there’s something for everyone and for any time of the day. Cococart’s in the business of delivering happiness, and happiness officially has a new address in Mumbai!
What are your future plans with Cococart? Which are the other cities you wish to expand to?
K & A: Our plans for 2021 involve furthering our reach across the country and further building on the cities we are already present in. On the immediate roster in the first quarter is Pune, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow and Amritsar for e-commerce operations. With brick & mortar, the focus for 2021 is luxury Five Star Hotels. We’ve already kick-started this with JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar which opened doors last month. Our second focus is luxury Malls. The right adjacency and the natural footfall help play to the impulsive nature of a chocolate purchase!
Tell us how did you come up with the menu for CocoCafé?
Chef Karishma Sakhrani: When Arjun approached me to create the menu for CocoCafé, everything just flowed so easily and seamlessly. His ask was for something experimental yet comforting. And this is exactly how I like to eat and cook! So, you can say the menu is a great capsule of some of my 
favourite recipes!
Since it’s a brief menu, I’ve tried to include everyone’s favourite ingredients like avocado, burrata and truffle for the savouries.
The desserts are of course a celebration of the chocolates available at Cococart. The Godiva chocolate cookies, Wedel brownies, Diam Tart and Valrhona Hot Chocolate are some of our top sellers!
What is the one thing from the menu you recommend everyone should try at least once?
KS: Definitely the Mushroom Cappuccino Soup. It’s a beautiful deception dish. A warm and comforting soup made from a multitude of exotic mushrooms is served in a double-walled glass, topped with truffle foam and black olive dust. Served with melt-in-your-mouth cheese sable. The dish is light, full of flavour and of course, magic
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