The sweet taste of sustainability

It is No Waste November: find out how Chennai-based bean-to-bar brand Kokoatrait meets a set of self-imposed and punishing green goals while competing in the luxury cocoa chocolates market

Kocoatrait’s website does not earmark a page for sustainability. Not just one page, that is. Every page is punctuated generously with green terms. Green phraseology jumps out at the reader. Take these snippets. “Contributing to the circular and green economy”. “Plastic positive brand”. “Zero waste lifestyle”. “Kocoatrait addresses 12 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”

Every time the word Kocoatrait is breathed, another is proclaimed — “sustainable”. There is even an oxymoronic flavour to what this bean-to-bar brand offers — “sustainable luxury chocolates”. Reconciling sustainability with luxury takes some doing, doesn’t it?

All of this leads to one thing: round-eyed curiosity. And out pops the curious question: “What makes Gopalapuram-based Kocoatrait’s chocolates green?” And this question is shot at L. Nitin Chordia, co-founder of Kocoatrait. Nitin’s wife Poonam Chordia is the other co-founder.

Nitin remarks that sustainability begins at the very beginning: when the bar is just a bean.

But let us break the order, taking this story medias res, and not in its chronological progression.

So, the wrapper first, going against the grain of a philosophy that eschews judging things by their cover. But in the sustainability narrative, cover matters. Packaging matters. The Chordias pride themselves on striving at zero-waste packaging with minimal waste.

The company keeps the wrapper plastic and paper free by making it with upcycled cotton waste from garment factories and reclaimed cocoa bean shells — a byproduct lining the sidelines of the chocolate-making process. The wrappers are biodegradable, compostable and recyclable.