THE HIMALAYAN CHOCOLATE – Bringing pahadi flavoured chocolates packed with happiness to the cities | Creating livelihoods in the hills

Born out of the necessity to spread cheer in the gloomy pandemic, we are all about handcrafted dark chocolate bars infused with the indigenous varieties of Himalayan nuts, fruits and condiments that evoke happiness. With this happiness initiative, we focus on creating livelihood opportunities for local women whose households were disrupted. Training them in chocolate-making and incorporating traditional Himalayan techniques in our production, we are that homegrown, social enterprise that is proud of empowering lives.

Handcrafted with love

The dark chocolate bars are handmade and much of the moulding, infusing and packaging process are non-mechanised. We have skilled women from the villages of Kullu- Manali who are trained in the art of chocolate making. We work according to the pace and creativity of our workers with a shortage of jobs and the vast supply chain across cities getting fractured resulting in lack of basic goods, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted several livelihoods. We are on a mission to empower the rural folks with craft skills and at the same time incorporating their traditional wisdom into our products.

Evoking the flavours of joy & happiness

Chocolates usually bring joy into our lives and we are enhancing the experience by using indigenous nuts, seeds and dry fruits from different Himalayan regions. Considered a superfood rich in antioxidants and minerals, our dark chocolate is infused with locally grown pahadi produce and we are on a mission of taking these local, unusual flavours to the urbanites.

Himalayan

We love all things regional. Every ingredient packed into the chocolate bar is ethically sourced from the local produce of the Himalayan region. Tracing and mapping the specialities of Himalayan towns, we cherry-pick the local yet exotic ingredients that form an integral part of our recipes.

THE HAPPINESS BOX HAS FIVE HIMALAYAN CHOCOLATES

1) Ladakhi Roasted Barley – The delicious dark chocolate generously mixed with roasted barley gives you a nutty taste with a tinge of coffee and caramel-like flavours, getting crunchier with every bite. Apart from its robust flavour, barley is dense with fibre, vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc. As you dig in, the indigenous flavour takes you through the fields where ripe gold barley crops sway in unison in the villages of Ladakh.

2) Himalayan Fruit & Nut – Mixed fruit and nut – A piece of this chocolate will be an explosion of flavours in your mouth – citrusy apricots, plump raisins, chunky nuts and seeds playing around with the creamy and earthy notes of the cocoa in our dark chocolate. A bite into this bar takes you to a world of happiness, joy and warmth coated in molten chocolate. Are you ready for this treat?

3) Kashmiri Almonds – The whiff of roasted almonds would take you to the meadows in the countryside of Kashmir where the almonds are harvested. That’s how you will feel on the very first bite. Embedded in layers of dark chocolate, this variety of toasted almonds is sweeter than the normal ones and gives you the extra crunch, playing along with chocolaty notes, bringing the classic taste of the flavour.

4) Himalayan Pink Salt – Get ready to play on sweet and savoury notes with Himalayan pink salt mixed in layers of our luxurious dark chocolate. A piece of this bar takes you to the natural salt deposits at the foothills of Himalayas from where it finds its way to our tiny chocolate factory. Specialty of the pink crystals- they have trace minerals of magnesium, potassium and calcium. Unwrap and munch on for a salty sweet affair.

5) Himachali Walnuts – Walnuts and chocolate are inseparable. These Indian variety of akhrot grown in the beautiful farms of rural Himachal are a powerhouse of omega-3 fatty acids and anti-oxidants. Cultivated in abundance across Mandi and Chamba, the best quality of locally sourced walnuts from the farms land in THC. Grab this bar after a strenuous workout or on a relaxing holiday and you are all energised.

THE JOURNEY OF THC

In September 2019, Rohan, an aspiring social entrepreneur from Mumbai, after completing his Masters from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, embarks on a journey to Leh-Ladakh with the aim of creating livelihoods for the indigenous communities. After working on several ideas to create livelihood, he plans to train local women in Ladakh with no livelihood in winters in the art of chocolate making. He gets support from the local government authority and the community in January 2020. Due to certain reasons the last proposal didn’t work out and confused Rohan decided to take a small vacation. Just like a lot of other people, he also got stuck away from home as the lockdown happened. After living among the locals totally dependent on the tourism sector, Rohan felt the lack of employment opportunities in the region and decided to finally execute his chocolate-making pieces of training and eventually leading on to the path of creating a brand out of the Himalayas to support local women.

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