The Whole Truth Foods (TWT) presents a dark chocolate range sweetened only with dates without added sugar or artificial sweeteners. With this new category launch, homegrown company TWT brings to its audience a range of premium, decadent, yet 100% clean chocolate made from just two ingredients - the finest locally sourced, single-origin cocoa from Idukki (district in Kerala) and imported high-quality, non-GMO dates.

To take charge of the manufacturing process and produce the finest dark chocolate in the country, TWT set up its bean-to-bar chocolate factory in Mumbai. From establishing a factory to sourcing beans directly from Kerala to spending months perfecting the delicate process of achieving a velvety smooth texture while using a sweetener as challenging as dates (due to their high fiber), this journey of creating a 100% clean yet decadent, product in a traditionally indulgent category has been a significant milestone for the brand.

According to the company, despite growing at 30% YOY, dark chocolate constitutes a miniscule (600 crore) part of the larger 14000 crore chocolate market. This is primarily because of the substantial price gap between milk chocolate and dark chocolate, which has, in turn, meant that dark chocolate, despite its many health benefits, has been reserved for the elites. Even consumers with a robust understanding of the category and high intent to purchase find themselves without access to couverture (read: real) chocolate. TWT addresses this gap and takes artisanal to scale by delivering the same premium quality, now improved with dates, at a far more competitive price. The TWT chocolates have two base variants - 71% and 55% dark chocolate, along with various flavors like orange, hazelnut, seasalt, and almond raisin.

Talking about the launch, Shashank Mehta, founder and chief executive officer, The Whole Truth Foods, said, "It was about 18 months ago when we decided to create chocolate sweetened only with dates. No added sugar or sweeteners. However, dates are quite fibrous, so achieving that perfectly smooth texture of rich chocolate called for 4X longer conch-time. That meant that every batch of this chocolate had to be continuously ground for 22 hours! For us, owning every part of the bean-to-bar journey was critical, so we set up our chocolate factory in Mumbai. After numerous nights burning the midnight oil and countless iterations, we are proud to introduce India's first dark chocolate naturally sweetened only with dates and without artificial sweeteners/ added sugar."

"Why should dark chocolate be inaccessible to most people in the country? Consumers are not only becoming more aware of the benefits of REAL chocolate but are developing a palate that moves away from the sugar-laden dessert we call chocolate. Yet they get completely priced out of the dark chocolate market. We're breaking this trend by offering a 100% clean, truly decadent and naturally sweetened chocolate at a much better price", he further added.

In a bid to educate audiences about the difference between "Healthy" food that is claimed to be made with natural ingredients and food that is made with natural, healthy ingredients, TWT launched a mini-series of educational yet super fun videos under their campaign "Healthy" Foods vs The Whole Truth. The series brings to light three ways that food marketers trick us. Watch these videos on their Instagram page – @thewholetruthfoods or their YouTube channel. This series of ads served as a prelude to the launch of TWT's pioneering product – 100% date-sweetened dark chocolate, sweetened ONLY with dates.