One saucepan, and a lot of repeat orders

Meltova started because shop bought chocolate was never quite right. Too sweet, or too old, or made months ago in a place nobody could point to. So it got made at home instead, in a saucepan over water, one small batch at a time.

The first boxes went to friends. They came back the next week and asked for two more, then their friends messaged, and for a long while that was the whole business: one pair of hands, a phone full of orders, and chocolate tempered the night before it went out.

That is still close to how it works. Every bite is set by hand, in batches small enough to look at each piece before it goes into a box. We do not make a thousand of anything and hope somebody turns up for it.

What changed is where the boxes go. Orders now travel across India, to weddings, to Diwali hampers, to a desk on somebody's birthday. The kitchen stayed the same size on purpose. It is the only way to promise that the box you open was made for you.

Meltova