First lick, then tick

Fresh chocolate all the way from Europe — that’s what a chocoholic dreams of. And imagine the pure bliss of receiving these month after month through the year. CVADO1502, a chocolate tasting club, promises just that to its members, all for a mere ₹2,600 per month. Its promise: “We will not repeat a chocolate.” Started by the Nagori brothers — Pankaj and Pavan — the club has already enrolled 55 members in Mumbai. As for the name — ‘C’ stands for chocolate, E’vador is Latin for tasting and 1502 is the year when Christopher Columbus brought cocoa beans to Europe. Pavan, as part of his earlier job in Deutsche Bank, travelled a fair bit in Europe where he discovered chocolate tasting clubs, a concept he wanted to start in India.

However, transporting the chocolates back home was a challenge. “Finally, we found a company that customised cool boxes for transporting the chocolates,” says Pankaj. That apart, it is also difficult managing a business on wafer-thin margins since import duties and transport costs add up to more than half the total cost of the chocolates. “We plan to make money via multiple offerings: normal and premium membership and gifting,” says Pankaj. The club is aiming for 3,000 members by the year-end. Given the number of chocoholics around, it seems likely the club will taste success very soon.