The lady and her chocolate factory

Anusha A Chowdaiah gives chocolates a whole new twist. This entrepreneur, after pursuing her Masters in Business Management from the US, returned to the City to start her own chocolate venture called L'inouï a year ago.

Her chocolates come out in all shapes and sizes that one can conceive of. “While studying, I visited Brugge over a weekend. There, I had my first cup of Belgian hot chocolate. After a few sips, I was floored. It was unlike anything I had tasted before. So I was determined to bring that concept to Bangalore,” says Anusha.

She adds, “When my mother visited me during my winter break, I pitched this idea to her and she loved it. She agreed to fund this venture and believed in this project from day one. She is the backbone and inspiration for my venture called L'inouï which in French means something rare,” explains Anusha. 

Anusha didn’t think she could go ahead without roping in someone from Europe. So, without wasting too much time, she got her classmate Lea (a Swiss national) who agreed to help her as a friend.

The two friends now run the show with immense support help from family and friends. “In fact, my brother Jagadish quit his high profile job in London to help me out. My closest friends Lijesh and Jana and my sister Bhawani believed in my dream and have helped me realise it,” she states. 

There’s a lot of care taken not only in making the chocolates but in inventing new designs as well. Anusha draws her inspiration to make new designs from the little things that she sees around. Chocolates have been transformed to resemble a Beetle, clutch, stilettoes... the list is endless. The chocolates are made with no preservatives at all.

“The cocoa butter chocolates are very difficult to work with since they melt at room temperature and are difficult to store as well. They have to be kept under 16 degrees temperature but when chocolates are combined with fresh cream, like in truffles, they bring down the shelf life of the product drastically. Our truffles have a shelf life around four days. We do not add preservatives or additives to any of our products to increase their shelf life,” she shares.  The idea of branching out into making chocolates, says Anusha, is to make it with a twist.

She explains why her chocolates are one-of-a-kind, “We use cocoa butter content in the chocolate. This is what makes the chocolate melt in your mouth and this cocoa butter is brought in from Switzerland,” she says.  

 Anusha is positive about her venture because she believes that no idea is a bad idea, “Innovation cannot limit itself,” she concludes.