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Every year on July 7, chocolate lovers around the world celebrate World Chocolate Day, honouring one of the world’s favourite treats. While most of us enjoy chocolates straight from the wrapper, have you ever wondered how a cacao pod becomes a rich, handcrafted chocolate bar?

This World Chocolate Day, food lovers have a sweet reason to visit Mumbai, where The Cacao Mill by Subko, India’s first public pod-to-bar chocolate factory, offers visitors a chance to witness the entire chocolate-making journey from bean to bar.

Watch chocolate come to life

Located in Colaba’s historic Pasta Lane inside a beautifully restored textile mill, The Cacao Mill is much more than a cafe. It combines a working chocolate factory, tasting space, retail store and specialty coffee cafe under one roof.

Visitors can watch skilled chocolatiers transform cacao beans into premium chocolate through processes such as cracking, winnowing, grinding, refining, conching and tempering.

Guided tours explain each step in simple language, making it an engaging experience for both children and adults.

‘Make Your Own Bar’

The experience doesn’t end with watching chocolate being made. Visitors can also try the “Make Your Own Bar” activity, where they create a personalised chocolate bar under the guidance of expert chocolatiers. From choosing dark, milk or white chocolate to adding toppings like cacao nibs and croissant crisps, every bar is made to suit individual tastes before being packed to enjoy later.

A journey for all five senses

One of the biggest highlights is the interactive pod-to-bar tasting experience. Guests get to see a real cacao pod, taste the fruit pulp, smell roasted cacao shells, sample cacao butter, crunch roasted beans and finally enjoy handcrafted chocolate.

The experience showcases how almost every part of the cacao fruit is used, while helping visitors understand the effort and craftsmanship behind every chocolate bar.

Chocolate with an Indian twist

Inside the temperature-controlled chocolate cellar, shelves are filled with handcrafted bars, pralines and innovative creations inspired by Indian ingredients.

Along with classic dark and milk chocolates, visitors can try unique flavours such as milk chocolate with spicy podi and almonds, chocolates infused with sea buckthorn from Ladakh, pistachio, cherry, peanut butter and coffee. 

The brand also gives a creative twist to popular international chocolate bars using premium Indian ingredients.

More than just desserts

The experience continues at the first-floor cafe, where artisan chocolates are paired with specialty coffee, fresh bakes and savoury dishes.

Guests can enjoy rich hot chocolate, chocolate sourdough toast sprinkled with sea salt, pastries and the signature podi toast topped with cream cheese, curry leaves and sesame seeds. The cafe proves that chocolate pairs beautifully with both sweet and savoury flavours.

Celebrating Indian cacao

The Cacao Mill also shines a spotlight on Indian-grown cacao by working closely with farmers across southern India. Instead of relying on imported chocolate, the brand celebrates locally sourced cacao and transforms it into premium artisanal products.

Located at 2nd Pasta Lane, Colaba, the Cacao Mill is open daily from 9 am to 9 pm, with an average cost of around Rs 2,000 for two.

This World Chocolate Day, if you’re planning a trip to Mumbai, skip the usual dessert stop and step into a place where chocolate is not just eaten but experienced.

From watching cacao become chocolate to tasting bold flavours and learning the story behind every bite, The Cacao Mill promises an outing that is as educational as it is delicious.