“Our purple friend” comes up often in conversation. Muppala, of course, is referring to Cadbury. When asked to recall their early memories of chocolate, most Indians think of the company’s Dairy Milk. The company is also responsible for bringing cocoa to India in the 1960s, although the industrial variety isn’t really known for its superior flavor. Back then, farmers called it the Cadbury tree.
Manam uses data and post-harvest processing systems to improve the basic Indian cocoa bean and make up for “the lack of good genetics for flavor.” “We do a lot of specialized work on that at scale,” Muppala says. “We monitor pH levels, temperature, soil genetics, terroir, and we use science and data to arrive at great beans.”
He speaks frequently about chocolate’s dark history and its ties to colonialism and slavery, promising that hearing about it will stop people from buying most brands. “You’ll never buy Godiva, Lindt or Cadbury again,” he says. Mannum’s story so far has been a very clean one, partnering with 120 farmers who grow cocoa on 3,000 acres of land, whose names are on the chocolate bars.
Muppala says the past year has taught him some lessons, including not forgetting about kids. “We’ve built a very adult brand and missed the opportunity to harness the magic of chocolate for kids,” he says. “We want to bring the fun into it.”
