Manam Chocolate

You could say Chaitanya Muppala has a confectionary pedigree: his family owns Hyderabad's beloved Almond House, which has been making traditional sweetmeats in the city for decades. With Manam Chocolate, Muppala takes the family tradition forward to contemplate the future of Indian craft chocolate. In contrast to Swiss and Belgian chocolates, which are widely seen as the gold standard, “we have an origin story here,” he says. Manam works closely with farmers and fermenters in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district to put Indian-grown cacao on the global stage. And the world is taking notice: In less than a year, Manam has already earned accolades from the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting and U.K.’s Academy of Chocolate. Inside Muppala’s chocolate factory, set on a busy road in Hyderabad’s posh Banjara Hills, walls are stocked with beautifully packaged bars in flavors like chai biscuit and pistachio fudge alongside stacks of curry leaf shortbread biscuits and almond praline clusters; croissants are baked, toasted coconut macarons are assembled, and chakkarakeli banana soft serve is swirled into cones, all in front of starry-eyed visitors. Downstairs, Manam’s airy, glass-walled atrium café serves all things sweet and savory at tables clustered around a cacao tree, which pays tribute to the real star of Manam’s story. “Each bar has the name of the farmer on it,” he says. “I know which tree this cacao comes from, I know the farmer, I've had lunch with him.”

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