Sugar-free craft chocolates for India's diabetics

On World Chocolate Day, a look at craft chocolate brands that are catering to India's 74 million diabetics

India's bean-to-bar chocolate movement has turned into a thriving, growing business with over 25 producers in the market; the number is expected to go up to 250 producers by 2026. With over 74 million diabetics living in the country*, homegrown chocolate makers have taken it upon themselves to make enjoying chocolates possible for everyone with sugar-free chocolate bars.

The market for bean-to-bar chocolates is expected to grow 60 per cent YoY as per research conducted by Cocoatrait, bean-to-bar chocolate advocacy and learning institute for professional chocolate making. As one of the few countries in the world with the right terroir and climate conditions for cacao production, India is uniquely positioned to redefine craft chocolate in this hemisphere.

Natural ingredients and organic sugar alternatives are a critical component of most craft chocolate brands available today, taking a direct approach to conscious choices.

However, a personal need drove 25-year-old Harsh Kedia to start his brand of diabetic chocolates, "A Diabetic Chef" which makes eight variants of sugar-free bars.

Kedia was diagnosed with Type 1.5 diabetes (Latent Auto-Immune Diabetes in Adults) at 14 and always wanted to consume chocolate without fearing glucose levels shooting up. A baker by profession, Kedia experimented with a process called "unsweetening" by extracting sucrose out of berries used in chocolates and implemented it at the brand's production unit in Pune.

"Brands claiming to be sugar-free often mislead consumers by mentioning only parts of their ingredients like "date extracts", where the actual usage of date sugar or palm sugar is quite high and dangerous for diabetics," he said.

Kedia developed his products in consultation with dietitians and nutritionists, an approach also taken by Ambriona, another Mumbai-based craft chocolate brand.

"The main ingredient of chocolate is cacao, and Indians have consumed products that substituted authentic fine cacao with palm oil or cocoa butter for too long," said Shahzad Anklesaria, the founder of Ambriona.

Cacao has many health benefits, including antioxidants. Dark chocolate has a high concentration of flavonoids, a chemical known to lower the risk of heart disease.

"Berries, even unsweetened ones, are rich in nutrients like vitamins and iron, which balances our nutrient profile," said Kedia. His venture is launching five new variants, including Bubblegums & Berries and Tiramisu flavours today on World Chocolate Day.

Anklesaria has diversified into Indian single-origin and imported source-based chocolates under the Daarzel and Ambriona brands.

"We have 94 SKUs with a wide variety of vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free and keto chocolates, and we do not use Maltitol, a sugar alcohol which many other brands use under the sugar-free tag," he said.

Stevia is the preferred choice of sugar alternative for these chocolate makers. While they work on building more awareness about harmful sugar alternatives, consumers are slowly embracing healthy varieties of chocolates due to the collective focus on fitness and health consciousness brought in by the pandemic. According to Anklesaria, having more options helps make the market more competitive and innovate better.

*Data from International Diabetes Federation - Diabetes Atlas India 2021 Statistics

(Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay is a Marketing professional with a nose for innovation and writes about travel, food and beverages.)