I longed to take the art of chocolate-making to the next level for years

Phani Kunar Kundeti, Chocolate..Picture: DAVID FERGUSON. (33808042)

FOR most people, a holiday is an opportunity to relax and enjoy some time away from the stress of day-to-day life.

For Phani Kundeti, however, although his travels to Kerala, on the southern tip of India, with his wife and children were originally intended to provide nothing more than a leisurely break, it wasn’t long before the landscape inspired a new business venture.

‘The idea for the business had been in the back of my mind for a long time,’ explained the man who is known to many Islanders as Chef Kundeti. ‘I have always loved chocolate and, for many years, I had wanted to take the art of chocolate-making to the next level.

‘During our time in Kerala, we soon noticed the many plantations where farmers were growing thousands of hectares of cocoa beans and, as I looked out over this land, more and more ideas for the business began to form.’

Indeed, it was not long after this holiday that the former executive chef of the Hotel de France spent two months in the Indian state, working with the farmers to understand the quality of the cocoa beans and the ways in which they were produced.

‘The quality of the beans was hugely important to me,’ said Kundeti. ‘Once I knew that the standard was incredibly high, I set up a cocoa-processing unit in Andhra Pradesh, a state in the south of India, and then taught some of the farmers how to process the beans after harvesting to ensure that they were dried and fermented in the right way to imbue them with the flavour profile needed for making chocolate.’

With the processing unit up and running, Kundeti launched Kâuma – a range of Bean 2 Bar artisan chocolate products, which are sold in supermarkets and health food stores across India.

‘The name Kâuma comes from two Indian words meaning peace and tranquillity as well as the name of an Indian god, which reflects the origins of cocoa as a food for the gods,’ explained Kundeti. ‘The chocolate was well received in India but, when I came back to Jersey, I wanted to create a more sophisticated product, as the European palate is somewhat more developed when it comes to chocolate.’

And so Kundeti set out on his mission to develop a ‘platform which would showcase both the Indian beans and the Jersey terroir’ – a mission which, earlier this summer, resulted in the launch of Cocoa49.2.

‘It has taken about six months to develop the recipes for the initial product range,’ he said. ‘Before getting to work in the kitchen, I carried out a lot of research across the UK and Europe, which showed that, although people understand that dark chocolate is the healthiest option, milk chocolate is the most popular in terms of its flavour and creaminess.

‘Accordingly, I set out to create a recipe which tastes as good as milk chocolate but has the benefits of dark chocolates. That product contains 49.2% cocoa solids, which is why the business is called Cocoa49.2.’

By coincidence, 49.2 is also one of the Island’s GPS co-ordinates.

‘This is Jersey’s latitudinal line – although whether I would have changed the recipe if the grid reference had been slightly different, I’m not sure,’ he laughed. ‘With the 49.2% chocolate as a base, I then went on to develop a white chocolate and also a selection of dark chocolate, ranging from 70% to 100% cocoa solids for anyone who is adventurous enough to try it.’

As a qualified nutritionist as well as a chef, it was important to Kundeti that his chocolates were not just tasty but that they were also healthier than many of the brands found on supermarket shelves.

‘Chocolate is generally regarded as being quite unhealthy and a lot of the bars you see in the supermarkets contain a lot of sugar,’ he said. ‘However, the cocoa bean itself is a super food, which contains several vital nutrients, and cocoa butter is regarded as one of the best fats to consume. When I tested the beans from the Indian plantations, they contained 52% fat, which is indicative of their high quality.’

And it was his desire for a ‘healthier alternative’ to a product loved by his children which inspired his second line of products.

‘So many children love chocolate spread,’ he smiled. ‘In my house, it’s eaten on toast, stirred into milk and generally loved. As such spreads are so widely consumed, I wanted to create a healthier option for people to enjoy and so I developed a range of white and milk chocolate products blended with ingredients such as sesame, hemp, almonds and the chefs’ classic, hazelnut and chocolate.’

While he admits to being ‘a bit of a chocaholic’, Kundeti’s culinary career has not always revolved around cocoa.

‘My love of food stems from my childhood in south India, as my whole family are real foodies,’ he said. ‘In India, we tend to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and my gran, mum and aunts were all good cooks. When you grow up eating lovely home-cooked food, you naturally develop an interest in cooking.’

Despite this, Kundeti did not initially set out to work in commercial kitchens.

‘I did an MBA in finance before the world of hospitality seduced me and I went to France where I worked in a range of five-star hotels and Michelin-starred kitchens,’ he said. ‘That was where my real training and introduction to the world of fine dining and pastry work began.’

After eight years in France, Kundeti was ready for a new challenge.

‘I wanted to move on with what I had learnt and, as I was considering my next move, the Hotel de France offered me the opportunity to join both as head pastry chef and to develop the concept for Saffrons – a fine-dining Indian-inspired restaurant.

‘It was a three-year contract initially but, 15 years later, I am still in Jersey,’ he chuckled.

While his stint at the Hotel de France included ten years in the dessert section, throughout that time, a little voice in the back of his head was always whispering ‘chocolate, chocolate, chocolate’.

With his first Cocoa49.2 lines now available from his website, fetch.je, madeinjersey.je and fungidelecti.com, Kundeti is already planning for the future.

‘While the launch ranges includes chocolates, hot-chocolate powders, spreads and truffles, I have so many ideas for further products but I want to make sure that every product is right before I develop anything else,’ he said.

‘My five-year plan includes not only further cocoa-based products – including healthier snack bars and low-sugar ice creams – but also the launch of something along the lines of a chocolate museum, where people can watch the products being made and see the journey from bean to bar. I would love this to include a “bar” where people could choose the flavours that they wanted added to their chocolate and this could be made in front of them so that they had a unique treat to take away with them.’

Before reaching that stage, though, Kundeti is keen to identify some commercial premises which will enable him to scale up his production without incurring his family’s wrath.

‘At the moment, everything is made, stored and packaged at home so I need to find a bigger kitchen before my wife starts complaining about all the equipment and boxes, which have already taken over one room of the house,’ he smiled.

– Advertisement –
– Advertisement –