In this post, we cover our interview for our "Together Talks" campaign, with Madhu Chocolate and Co-Founder, Harshit Gupta. Madhu Chocolate is a company born out of a passion for combining traditional Indian flavors with the decadence of chocolate. From their humble beginnings in their home kitchen in Austin, TX, they set out to create the highest quality bean-to-bar product.
Madhu Chocolate source cacao from the Tumaco region of Colombia, then meticulously roast, crack, winnow, grind, flavor, temper, and wrap all of their bars by hand. Their inspiration comes from many sources, but one that stands out is Harshit's mom. Her inventive recipes and incredible chai have fueled Harshit's lifelong passion for food, and she continues to inspire them every day. It's fitting, then, that they named our business after her: Madhu, which means honey or sweet in Hindi. To them, it represents the perfect name for a chocolate company. At Madhu Chocolate, they believe that sweetness goes beyond just their products. That's why they live by the mantra, "Be Madhu to one another."
They strive to spread kindness and positivity in everything they do, from their beautiful packaging inspired by Indian textiles to the gorgeous bars themselves. Madhu Chocolate pour their hearts and souls into every aspect of the business, and hope you can taste the love in every bite.
"Together Talks" feature # 148: Madhu Chocolate presented by KLS - Dedicated Logistic Services for Excellence -Driven Businesses In The USA
Reflect on a goal you set and how it made you feel to accomplish it? How have you dealt with being the faces of the company? What is the next thing you need to develop as a leader? What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most? Share a mistake and what you learned from that experience? What is your why?
Story of how it was created?
I came to the U.S. on a student visa for my Masters in computer engineering. I moved to Seattle, that's where I met Elliot, my husband. We have been together since 2013. In 2016, we made a move to Austin. All my career, all my adult life, I've always wanted to have a business. I didn't know what form of business that needed to be, but I just knew that I wanted to do something for myself.
One thing which always clicked to me was a quote which says, "Mind your own business", which basically means do your own thing. My time at Microsoft was great, but I wanted to do something for myself. My husband, he's a food scientist by profession. We were making chocolate for quite some time. One of my trips to India is when it became an "Aha" moment. Why don't we use the beautiful spices which are not very popular in the U.S and put it in the chocolate we already make.
Then we started making these chocolates to sell it directly to the customer at local Farmer's Markets. We started to receive feedback which was really great to hear and there was a huge demand. It was a great success at the farmers market, which made us to get into commercial space so we can expand into e-commerce. Then we realized we can do wholesale to prospective retailers.
Six years later, we are in our 2,200 square feet space near the Austin International Airport.
What separates your company from competition?
The entire story about how the east and west meeting together in a very beautiful way separates us as does our unique flavors. We made a choice to have vibrant look and design and integrated that with our packaging. We wanted to catch consumers' attention on the shelves.
Our design is inspired by the Indian textiles, Indian artwork, which are very bold colors, it's much more impactful design. We came up with something which separates us with the visualization, all the way to the flavors. However, in the end chocolate has to taste good because that's where you get the repeat customers.
What have been the biggest challenges?
Covid had a pretty interesting challenge by itself of having all your wholesale accounts going to zero within five days while everything shut down. We had to make a switch over to a website very quickly. The good part for us was because of my software engineering background those transitions were a little easier. The turnaround was pretty quick which was very important because the entire business moved from being in person retail to e-commerce.
The biggest challenge right now is the cacao prices. In January is when the cacao price per kilogram of cacao beans was $7-8. Now we are looking at $14 or $15 per kilogram. Cocoa butter is another important ingredient which goes into chocolate. It went from $10 per kg to $33 per kg.
Reflect on a goal you set and how it made you feel to accomplish it?
The biggest grocery stores near us are HEB and a premium grocery store, Central Market. Our goal was to get into all of the Central Markets in Texas. Not only did we want our product there, but to be one of their top movers. Their craft chocolate category is very robust and we wanted to stand out. Fortunately for us, we have done very well in Central Markets so far which has been a tremendous feeling.
How have you dealt with being the faces of the company?
It's been great experience. We have a very small team, when you say craft chocolate, everything is made in-house. We don't use go-packers, even the fulfillment is in-house. Being the faces of the company, we have to handle the social media. We believe it is important to show our successes, but also the failures which happen almost every day.
Prior to this company, I had never worked directly with customers. I've had to learn that from receiving great feedback to hearing criticism. I've also learned insight on how to be more empathetic, but also not give in to every request of customers. Balancing making customers happy while also remaining true to the values of the business can be a challenge.
I need to understand financial statements more thoroughly and I'm still trying to learn those skills. Understanding financial statements properly to better forecast will be beneficial for our company. I don't come from a financial background, so I will continue honing in on those skills to fully understand our situation from top to bottom. Being able to optimize the data we have to make decisions that will best serve the business is my ultimate goal.
What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most?
When you see the products on shelves, that feeling of when customers come back and say that this product just brings them back to their childhood memories or how it connects to some roots which they have been missing. Going through this journey is hard, but it gives you that push that you have to do more. It motivates you to do even better and to keep on doing more and more to reach further success. And I am really appreciate of this journey.
Share a mistake and what you learned from that experience?
We were doing a lot of trade shows, which are quite expensive. We had to step back and analyze if the return on investment was worth it for our brand. We were prematurely attending so many events, because we weren't able to scale if we had developed all these new partnerships. We were doing these shows for exposure but we didn't realize that the exposure could mean more demand. We didn't have that kind of a bandwidth to be able to keep up to that demand. We learned that while those connections were valuable, it wasn't the best business decision to invest so much into attending so many shows. We put a focus on how to become more strategic with our spend and cut it down to one event a year at most. Aside from that we are focusing on organic growth and to scale at our pace.
Did you ever doubt the fate of your company and what did you learn?
When Covid started, we had many wholesale orders as we had just started partnerships. That forced us to move into a larger space which meant more rent and expenses for us. We were planning our growth and expansions and then everything shut down. We saw that demand go away almost overnight. One of our largest partnerships was being inside Austin's International Airport. We had six locations through them that were doing a lot of business and then travel shut down and it hurt our business. We weren't sure how long it would last and if we would survive. Then we made the pivot to e-commerce to just survive.
It was pivotal and a fast pivot. I'm very thankful we transitioned as quickly as we did to get operating as e-commerce. If we couldn't make that pivot work, we very possibly would have had to shut down because we would have run out of cash.
What is your why?
I always wanted to do something for myself and own my own business. I always wanted to do something which makes me happy, which makes me satisfied, which gives a lot of anxiety, but at the end, I know it is what I personally wanted to do for my own personal growth. I wanted to create something for my own satisfaction, for my own of mission. That is particularly why I'm doing this and why I have transitioned myself from software engineering world to CPG.
Do you have a moment that brings you the most joy?
When I became a U.S. citizen, the day I received my U.S. passport we booked a trip to Paris as it was my first time traveling without needing a tourist Visa. It was such a great feeling. While in Paris, I got an email saying our business was approved for Whole Foods Market and it turned into one of the most joyous moments. We're able to celebrate that moment in the most romantic place on the earth, it was just so special. Thinking about it right now makes me smile because of how awesome of a series of events it was.
Share about your current operations?
Check out our website https://madhuchocolate.com! We ship nationwide to all 50 states. We are in over 250 stores and you can find them on our website. Our chocolate factory store is open daily from 10-4 PM near Austin International Airport. We love having customers come visit, meet us, sample everything, and discover our business.
Piece of Advice
It was very important for our business, that was to pivot. If something is not working, pivot and pivot quickly. Don't keep on digging a bigger hole for yourself, where it becomes more difficult over time. If you can pivot quickly, you have better odds to find a new, better path.
The second one is, every business should have a business plan and they should stick to their business plan. Also revisit their business plan atleast once a year. It's a very important part which many businesses don't want to reevaluate their plan. I think it's very important to understand what is your passion or your hobby, how it translates into a business itself because that might be two different things.
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In Closing
KLS wants to thank Madhu Chocolate and Co-Founder, Harshit Gupta, for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!
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