If you are one of those people who over-indulged in the recent festive season, you may be looking to switch to healthier alternatives of your favourite foods in order to balance things out. Though a number of Indian artisanal chocolate brands have descended on the market in recent years, it is only a select few that offer vegan options that are also free of refined sugar. Chennai-based BeeTee’s Melt Chocolate stands out in this regard.
Founded by Thamarai in 2020, the sole vision of the brand was to create chocolate that was made in India which offered the chance to people to consume a sweet treat that was good for them. Even its name has an interesting story, as shared by Thamarai who says, “The best way to eat chocolate is not by biting and chewing it, instead you should let it melt in your mouth before devouring it. That is the right way of tasting chocolate to take the complete pleasure of consuming it. We wanted this phenomenal experience to be projected in our name as well.”
Thamarai has always been passionate about food. At 21, she began making couverture chocolates using a special kind of baking chocolate. When she was on the lookout for her next venture, she taught herself to make chocolate from scratch and completed an international course in chocolate-making to add another feather to her cap. The result was what she now sells under her brand name BeeTee’s Melt, which first became popular with her friends and family and now with the world at large.
“BeeTee’s promise has always been to be honest about the usage of ingredients that go into making our chocolates. Our products contain raw materials that are mentioned front and centre in our ingredients list on our packaging. Apart from these, no other flavours or preservatives have been added to our products. There is no cocoa powder, no cocoa solids, and no artificial sweeteners. Further, our chocolates are also gluten free, soy free, and free of refined sugar and other preservatives. We are also ISO 22000:2018 certified, GMP certified and all our cacao beans are imported from single origin UTZ certified farms, ensuring that our products are all natural and made in micro batches. We want to ensure our patrons that we eat what they eat–that is our promise,” she explains emphatically.
At the moment, one can buy three flavours of chocolate from BeeTee’s Melt. These include 48% Milk Chocolate, 54% Coconut Milk Chocolate and 72% Dark Chocolate. In addition to their line of chocolates, they also sell nut better in the following varieties – almond butter, chocolate almond butter, chocolate peanut butter, peanut butter, hazelnut chocolate spread, and pistachio spread.
Thamarai’s exclusive nut butters are aimed at those looking for better alternatives to jams or other sandwich spreads that are high on sugar and fat. BeeTee’s Nut Butters are free from hydrogenated oils, palm oils, refined sugar and fillers, and are made using high quality nuts.
A thing that particularly stands out is the striking packaging of each product. Explaining the intent behind it, the founder says, “Our packaging comes with very intricate details that explain the story of our ingredients. It shows a hand picking a bean, indicating that we hand pick our cacao beans. And it also depicts the various parts and stages of a cacao tree. The colour of each cover differs depending on the flavour. For example, our coconut chocolate cover is green indicating the tropical place where coconuts grow.”These exclusive bean-to-bar artisanal chocolates are priced at Rs 280 per 55gm bar. They can be ordered through the website beeteesmelt.in as well as through third party retailers like Amazon, Flipkart and Bigbasket. However, if one is looking to gift the chocolates to others, the tin packaging variations available on their website make for good seasonal gifting options.
Thamarai signs off by sharing her thoughts on the future of the Indian artisanal chocolate market. She says, “We are already witnessing the change as people have been exploring more products made in India. Indian chocolates are set to rule in India and soon the globe as well. I foresee a revolution taking place in the field of chocolate making in India. As it is one of the most populated countries in the world, there is sure to be a widespread demand for chocolates made in our own country, and the pandemic has helped by allowing us to connect digitally with people throughout the nation.”The writer pens lifestyle articles for various publications her blog www.nooranandchawla.com. She can be reached on nooranand@gmail.com.
One can buy three flavours of chocolate from BeeTee’s Melt. These include 48% Milk Chocolate, 54% Coconut Milk Chocolate and 72% Dark Chocolate.
Thamarai has always been passionate about food. At 21, she began making couverture chocolates using a special kind of baking chocolate. She completed an international course in chocolate-making to add another feather to her cap.