“It Is Magical In Nature”: ITC Foods’ GK Suresh On ITC’s Luxury Chocolate Brand, Fabelle

In May last year, ITC Limited entered the luxury chocolate market with the launch of Fabelle; handcrafted chocolates made using premium cocoa, exotic ingredients and skilled craftsmanship and artistry.

The brand first became available in Bangalore, at ITC’s luxury hotel ITC Gardenia.

Fabelle Comes To Mumbai

Now, Mumbaikars can get a bite out of the Fabelle experience; in December, ITC brought its Fabelle brand to Mumbai with the launch of the chocolates at the ITC Grand Central and the ITC Maratha. The chocolates are sold out of an elegant room, alluringly known as ‘The Chocolate Boutique’ which boasts chocolate-colored walls, golden accents and – of course – the Fabelle collection of chocolates as the prime focus.

Following the launch of The Chocolate Botique, we had a chat with G.K Suresh, the VP, New Category Development, ITC Foods to better understand the Fabelle brand as well as the chocolate market in India in general. Take a look at our conversation:

What does the Indian palate crave when it comes to chocolate?

The Indian palate has been used to milk chocolates for years. However, we have seen that the luxury consumer is looking for more authentic experiences in the form of pure chocolate experiences. Our Ganache – rich dark has been received well by consumers – so there is good reason to believe that chocolate connoisseurs are keen on good, rich dark chocolates too.

What we have also observed is people are open to new and unique taste sensations and have offered the same in the form of Elements with unique ingredients being combined with cocoa to deliver these unique experiences.

Consumers have shown an inclination towards these authentic experiences as well as experiment with new and unique flavours.

Take us through the variants of Fabelle chocolates.

Fabelle offers an assortment of creations:

Fabelle Elements – a box of handcrafted pralines, inspired by the five elements of nature, namely earth, fire, air, water and wood

Fabelle Ganache – velvety soft cubes of exotic cocoas delicately churned with butter & fresh cream

Fabelle “As You Like It” cups – personalized chocolate cup creations

Fabelle Single Origin Cacaos – an assorted box of six dark chocolate bars, each made using cocoa from a single source country, giving them taste notes typical to the source country like Madagascar, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Venezuela, Sao Tome and Ghana

Fabelle Gianduja – an Italian delicacy in the form of melt in mouth milk chocolate mixed with roasted Turkish hazelnut

Describe some of the key taste characteristics of Fabelle chocolates.

Each of our chocolates have been developed based on 3 key pillars of authentic experiences, unique sensations and customization. So while the Creamy Milk and Rich Dark Ganache offer authentic, melt-in-mouth, pure chocolate experiences, the Elements offer unique sensations of varied combinations delivering unique tastes and textures.

All our chocolates are made with the choicest of cocoa and unique ingredients to deliver a rich chocolaty experience.

What kind of experience will The New Chocolate boutique offer customers?

The endeavor is to provide consumers an engaging chocolate experiences and give them a complete multi sensorial experience.

Fabelle Boutiques have been aesthetically designed to offer an extraordinary experiential zone to the insiders of the luxury world. We have a live kitchen that enables the consumers to interact with the Fabelle Master Chocolatiers and participate in their chocolate creation. Consumers also have the options of seeing our master chocolatiers live at work as they put their chocolates together for them, from the comfort of their seat.  The digital menu allows them to customizes their chocolates and engage and know more about the chocolates that they are about to have.

Before entering Mumbai, ITC launched Fabelle in other cities in India. What has been the response?

We have received phenomenal response for Fabelle since it’s been launched. People have really appreciated the detailing and the efforts that have been put into creating the whole Fabelle experience. We have hosted people from different lifestyles, age groups, regions and countries who have loved Fabelle chocolates and found them at par with other international brands. In a very short span of time, we have earned patrons who keep coming back to our boutiques to relish our chocolates and take some back with them.

Can you explain the thought behind the name ‘Fabelle’?

The name Fabelle, for us, stands for exquisite chocolate experiences. The brand endeavors to deliver chocolate experiences that can rival the best in the world and the name Fabelle symbolizes this mission of ours. Fabelle is a luxury chocolate brand that is magical in nature and the brand name stands for this identity.