Chocolate is the number one guilty pleasure, even for people who are watching their weight. There are not many not addicted to the rich, overwhelming taste of chocolate. Chocolate is luxury. It is indulgence. It is decadence personified. However, many times, it comes with pesky disadvantages such as preservatives and artificial sweeteners. A Bengaluru IT couple, who figured out the secret to produce organic chocolate, have been building a successful chocolate brand for the past six years. In an interview with New Indian Express, Swathi Kallegundi and her husband Balasubrahmanya PS revealed how they built their organic chocolate brand Anuttama. In Sanskrit, Anuttama means ‘the finest’ or ‘none better’, and we chose the name to reflect the focus on clean chocolate made from local ingredients,” Balasubrahmanya said.What began as a series of modest trials using cocoa harvested from their own land and wholesome alternatives such as jaggery and date-based sweeteners has evolved into a thriving enterprise. Along the way, the husband-and-wife team has also created livelihood opportunities for women from nearby villages.Balasubrahmanya and Swathi left their careers in the corporate sector and returned to their native town of Puttur, where they continued working remotely while residing on their agricultural property. Surrounded by an abundance of freshly grown cacao, bananas, coconuts, and dates, they gradually started crafting small quantities of artisanal chocolate. Their recipes relied solely on cocoa and naturally derived sweetening agents, including coconut sugar, palm jaggery, and date sugar, avoiding refined sugar altogether.Their family-owned estate in Bettampady, located in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada region, has been nurturing crops such as arecanut, cacao, bananas, black pepper, and several other varieties for generations. During the pandemic-induced lockdowns, when conventional market activities came to a standstill, the couple—both trained software professionals—used the opportunity to explore chocolate-making within their home.Today, the venture sources cacao not only from their own plantation but also from neighbouring farms. Swathi explains that they procure freshly harvested cocoa beans from surrounding growers and oversee every stage of post-harvest processing themselves. By managing fermentation and drying in-house, they are able to maintain strict quality standards and consistency in the final product. The production process also generates employment for local women, who actively participate in manufacturing operations.The journey from raw cocoa bean to finished chocolate involves a carefully monitored sequence of steps, including fermentation, sun-drying, roasting, grinding, tempering, shaping, and final packaging. Through this hands-on approach, the couple has transformed a small home experiment into a successful rural business rooted in sustainable farming, craftsmanship, and community empowerment.In an interview with Indian Express, Swathi revealed that most of their chocolate products are dairy-free. “We cater to diverse preferences by sweetening some chocolates with alternatives like coconut sugar, and dates. A majority of our chocolate offerings are dairy-free,” she explained. One of their best-sellers, Spicy Tang, is made from dark chocolate, jaggery, ginger and pepper. Another popular item is Bella Tharai, made from coconut milk and jaggery.