Manam Chocolate Karkhana, Hyderabad

Manam Chocolate is a one of its kind Indian craft chocolate brand that begins its journey before the bean and goes beyond the bar.

The Manam Chocolate Karkhana flagship is the ultimate chocolate experience, which has to rate as one of the most impressive and inspiring retail concepts in the world, combining immersive and interactive retail theatre through expert craftsmanship, with a destination hospitality cafe and restaurant.

Time Magazine recently selected Manam Chocolate as one of its Top 100 Greatest Destinations 2024.

Perhaps more importantly, Manam Chocolate and its sister company Distinct Origins Are on a mission to create a new world class and sustainable Indian fine chocolate culture that focuses on every part of the production, from supporting a collective of over 100 cacao farmers in West Godavari to grow new varietals that prioritise flavour, to their own drying and fermentation facility, the second largest Cacao Fermentary in the world.

Here, they take a rigorous scientific approach to unlocking new flavours from these local beans. Indian cacao has in the past lacked quality due to the haphazard drying and fermentation done by farmers themselves, so having a dedicated facility allows farmers to focus on growing, speeds payments to them, and allows Distinct Origins a unique control over the process.

The process continues through to their amazing Kharkana (Factory/artisan workshop) where they turn cacao into chocolate, and then into a range of tasty confections: from signature Tablets, to Bonbons, Truffles, Nama, Barks, Fudge. Palettes, Rochers, Clusters, Macarons. Gianduja, Spreads, Cakes, Pastries, Viennoiserie, and much much more!

Manam Chocolate is the brainchild of  entrepreneur Chaitanya Muppala, India’s first ever Level 3 chocolate taster, who comes from the family behind fine confectioners Almond House. His mission is to transform cacao production, which was introduced to India in the 1960s, from a low quality commodity, into a world class fine chocolate product that rivals the best Swiss and Belgian chocolate, with a unique local flavour.

Meaning ‘We’ or ‘Us’ in Telugu, Manam Chocolate is a direct reference to the brand’s Indian origin. Chaitanya personally knows all the cacao farmers in the collective and Manam Chocolate not only creates single origin chocolate from the 1,500 of cacao plantations in West Godavari, but also single farm chocolate; which is much more ambitious.

Manam Chocolate Karkhana is their first store: a 10,000 sq ft experiential factory flagship store where immersive making and storytelling is built into every element: even the facade which is shaped like a giant Tablet.  The building itself is an old house, converted into a series of halls, each with a unique theatrical function.

With design by I’m D’sign, the space combines natural materials that represent growing and farming, and industrial finishes that represent making and crafting. Digital screens bring the growing stories to life while customers can watch the chocolate making processes of roasting, winnowing, conching and tempering, as well as chefs turning chocolate into edible creations.

A highlight of the experience is the Chocolate Lab, where customers can make their own Tablet, with their own toppings and personalised packaging.

The experience is rounded off with hospitality and a 2,500 sq ft cafe where “cacao, coffee, and cuisine come together to celebrate the story of Manam Chocolate”

Set around an open courtyard the Cafe is deliberately filled with the scent of chocolate and coffee and the environment is filled with real plants that can be found on the farms. A real Theobroma Cacao Tree is at the heart of the space, while the flora intercropped with cacao in the West Godavari region, such as areca nut, coconut, banana, and long pepper surrounds it. It’s meant to give the experience of being in a cacao farm and represents their role in contributing to the nuanced flavours of Manam Chocolate, through shared terroir.

Manam Chocolate is yet another wonderful example of what we call ‘retail with purpose’ and it is proof that there is almost no limit to the stories you can tell and experiences you can offer in order to establish yourself as a true expert.

Simply delicious retail!