“Most international countries look down on us as a milk chocolate eating nation,” rues chocolatier Varun Inamdar, an alumnus of Oberoi Centre of Learning And Development, who has worked in the kitchens of hospitality chains like Trident and Hilton for over a decade, besides presenting his creations to the likes of Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and Vladimir Putin. When we probe further, the 31-year-old Mumbai chef cites an instance, “Recently, I represented India at Cocoa Revolution in Vietnam, and realised that the cocoa world does not look upon India as a cocoa nation at all. All they are happy about is that Indians consume chocolates and give them the bottom-line numbers.”

The chocolate bars from six Indian states which are part of Volume 1 of Barcode. Pic/Shadab Khan