With festival bells ringing and the New Year quickly approaching, homegrown consumer brand major ITC has launched a super-luxury chocolate under its brand Fabelle, targeting the uber-rich.
ITC claims that the chocolate branded Fabelle Trinity-Truffles Extraordinaire, and priced at approximately Rs 4.5 lakh a kilogram, would be the most expensive chocolate in the world.
The chocolate, which will be available on made-to-order basis from Wednesday, will place ITC amongst the finest world-class chocolate brands, said Anuj Rustagi, chief operating officer for chocolates, confectionary, and coffee.
The Fabelle Trinity range, which represents the concept of the Creator, Nurturer and Destroyer, is co-curated by Michelin Star Chef Philippe Conticini and Fabelle’s master chocolatiers, using some of the rarest ingredients and finest single-origin cacaos in the world, he said.
“With Chef Philippe Conticini’s international expertise and Fabelle’s understanding of Indian chocolate consumer preferences and institutional strength, we have been able to deliver a world-class product. After several months of R&D, we have delivered a product in which India can take pride in. We have stayed committed to our constant endeavour to be at the forefront of introducing Indian consumers to distinct chocolate experiences,” Rustagi said. He it took months of ideation, extensive research, search for the best ingredients and their sourcing, innumerable trials and putting it all together over many days of craftsmanship, along with extensive testing, in a bid to come up with the finest chocolate in India that can rival the world’s best.
With the growing demand for fine chocolates, ITC is eyeing healthy growth from its niche category. “The chocolates category has been growing faster than 10 per cent in recent years and we expect to grow significantly faster than the category over the next few years,” Rustagi added.
The company had launched Fabelle in 2016 in six cities, and after that introduced bar variants priced between Rs 350 and Rs 495 in big stores. The company has eight boutiques at its hotels for the Fabelle luxury range, which is currently working on the Fabelle gift bouquets meant for festive gifting, priced between Rs 2,450 and Rs 13,750.