§1What this business is

Cocoa is roasted and winnowed, the nibs are ground in a stone melanger into cocoa liquor, mixed and refined with sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla, tempered and poured into moulds, then cooled and packed in 100 g packets. Buyers are sweet and gift shops, bakeries and cafés, supermarkets and online buyers; festival gifting is a big season.

Capacity: 25 kg a day, 7,500 kg a year = 75,000 packets of 100 g; 45% in year 1 rising to 65%.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A food entrepreneur who can build a premium or gift brand.

Who it is not for

Someone planning to compete on price with mass brands.

Advantages

  • Dark chocolate is in demand for its health image (the report)
  • Small batch size suits a craft or gift brand
  • Festival and corporate gifting
  • Small space and investment

Drawbacks

  • Cocoa butter and cocoa prices are high and volatile
  • Chocolate melts — summer storage and transport need cooling
  • Big brands dominate shops
  • Needs good packaging and branding to sell

Skills you need

  • Tempering and moulding
  • Recipe and quality control
  • Packaging and branding
  • Online and gift-channel selling

Why difficulty 3/5: Making is learnable; building a brand that sells is the hard part.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Sweet, gift and chocolate shops
  • Bakeries and cafés
  • Supermarkets
  • Corporate and festival gift buyers

How it sells

  • Retail distributors
  • Own online store and marketplaces
  • Gift hampers and corporate orders

Good to know

  • The report puts India's chocolate market at ₹650 crore a year and 22,000–24,000 tonnes, and says it sells in towns, cities and villages in every season.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Automatic roasting machine, 50 kg1₹1,80,000
Chocolate melting and tempering machine, 15–30 kg1₹1,26,000
Melanger (wet stone grinder), 10–100 kg1₹1,00,000
Chocolate moulding machine1₹1,00,000
Chocolate grinding machine, 10–100 kg an hour1₹45,000
Chocolate refrigerator, 100 litres1₹8,500
Other machinery1 lot₹60,000

From: PMEGP sample project report — Sweet Dark Chocolate (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Cocoa butter1,650 kg a year at ₹1,050 a kg at full capacity
  • Cocoa powder4,200 kg a year at ₹200 a kg
  • Vanilla1,100 kg a year at ₹500 a kg
  • Sugar2,200 kg a year at ₹22 a kg
  • Cocoa liquor, lecithin and other consumables₹8 L a year (lump sum)

From: PMEGP sample project report — Sweet Dark Chocolate (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

In our raw material database

Cocoa beans →

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam
  2. GST
  3. FSSAI licence
  4. NOC from the State Pollution Control Board (the report lists it)
  5. Legal Metrology registration for packed goods
  6. Trademark for your brand

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

PMFME (micro food processing), PMEGP, MUDRA up to ₹20 L and CGTMSE fit.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: PMEGP sample report: shed 1,000 sq ft ₹4.00 L, plant & machinery ₹6.20 L, furniture ₹1.00 L, working capital ₹2.22 L = ₹13.42 L.

Working capital: Working capital ₹2.22 L (bank ₹2.00 L): 15 days of raw material and 10 days of finished stock.

Year not printed on the report — check current machinery prices.

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export

1806.32Chocolate in blocks, slabs or bars, not filled

Export council / board: APEDA

  • APEDA registers exporters of cocoa products and confectionery.
  • Confirm the 8-digit ITC(HS) line with DGFT or your customs broker.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Cocoa price spikes
  • Heat damage in storage
  • Brand competition
  • Food-safety lapses

§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan

A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.

  1. Days 1–30: Visit a working dark chocolate making unit unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
  2. Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam, GST), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
  3. Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.

§11Who to connect with

Not verified yet

Associations, clusters and training institutes — the directory is being built. Connect

§12Watch

There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.

Want to start Dark Chocolate Making Unit?

DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Sweet Dark Chocolate (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.