Hyderabad: As you approach a chocolate tablet-shaped structure, one of the bricks cleverly designed as a door slides open to a world of chocolate at Manam Chocolate Karkhana, which opened on Road No. 12, Banjara Hills. Stepping inside this store, spread over 10,000 sft, you are greeted with the rich aroma of the fine chocolate that fills the air, enticing your senses and making your mouth water, promising a haven for chocolate aficionados and dessert enthusiasts alike.
“The Manam Chocolate Karkhana is situated in an old house that has been transformed to tell Manam Chocolate’s story. The Karkhana’s structure and the greenery surrounding it are all a nod to the indigenous trees and materials found in the West Godavari regions,” said Chaitanya Muppala, owner of Manam Chocolate.
Manam Chocolate is a first-of-its-kind in the cacao pod-to-bean-to-endless chocolate confectionery segment, where they take ownership of the entire process — from cacao farming, fermenting, chocolate making to creating a large collection of confections. The process begins at the source, through its sister company Distinct Origins, where they partner with a network of over 100 farmers cultivating over 1,500 acres of cacao farms in the West Godavari district.
They also set up a Distinct Origins Cacao Fermentery, in Tadikalapudi, where scientific fermentation and drying techniques are pioneered and enabled by proprietary technology. “Every chocolate maker has a style and my style is to make chocolate, the Indian way. We are crafting chocolate for Indians, and the world, how Indians like,” he said. They also have live chocolate making, where you can witness the magical transformation of raw cacao beans into smooth, luscious chocolate, as it goes through roasting, winnowing, grinding, refining, conching, tempering, and moulding.
They have a chocolate lab, where one can get creative with flavours and create their own chocolate tablets. A Manam Classroom helps enthusiasts to learn more about Indian Cacao and craft chocolate through nuggets of knowledge programmes and workshops.
The Karkhana also has its own Manam Café, an all-day casual dining where you can find yourself basking in the flora from the farms, with the cacao tree at the heart of the café, and other flora from the farm along the periphery of the café. Customers can explore the wide selection of items here, including macaroons, gelatos, bonbons, pallettes, tablets, and others.