Fazer Angry Birds Chocolates @ The Cocoa Trees

Singapore based brand, The Cocoa Trees has recently introduced internationally renowned Fazer Angry Birds Chocolates first time in India to its vast range of chocolates for its Indian audience. The Angry birds and the pigs have now turned into sweets, lollipops and chewing gums.
The Cocoa Trees have launched Fazer Angry Bird Sweets, Lollipops, Chocolate Eggs and Chewing gums into the market.

The Cocoa Trees have launched Fazer Angry Bird Sweets, Lollipops, Chocolate Eggs and Chewing gums into the market.

• Angry Bird Lollipop: Super popular Fazer Angry Birds have now wrapped themselves in lollipop costumes. The three fruity flavoured, groovy looking lollipops have a sudden surprise hidden inside. The Angry Bird Lollipops are available in three flavours strawberry, pear and cola. Available at Rs.290 for 120gm.
• Angry Bird Chewing Gum: The super popular Fazer Angry Birds are now also chewing gums! Tooth-friendly chewing gums come in four flavours, summer, strawberry and cool, refreshing eucalyptus. Available at Rs.495 for 70 gm. 
• Angry Bird Chocolate Eggs: Fazer Angry Birds Surprise Eggs are really big milk chocolate eggs with surprises in every chocolate egg. Available at Rs. 795 for 100 gm.
• Angry Bird Candy Bags: Fazer Angry Bird Candy Bags contains 5 unique characters and shapes, from strawberry Red Bird, to the crunchy and chewy caramel eggs. The colourful and tangy birds taste like familiar strawberry, spiky lime, delightful orange, wild berries, and punchy cola with a fresh lemon filling. Available at Rs. 190 for 120 gm.

Fazer Angry Bird Collection is now available at all The Cocoa Trees outlets, two stores in Mumbai and one at Mumbai airport, three in Pune, one in Delhi T3 domestic airport and Goa.

New chocolates at The Cocoa Trees

Since I first visited The Cocoa Trees, the Singapore-based chocolate chain store brand, has been throwing one delight after another my way. Apart from their impressively vast spectrum of spectrum of over 40 varieties of international branded chocolates under one roof, ranging from Belgian chocolate, Anthon Berg, Ferrero, Lorenz, Sorini, Mars and Fazer; the chocolate boutique conducts events such as chocolate dipping sessions to help Indian consumers appreciate chocolate.

Now it has added three renowned premium products Goldkenn Crystal Gold Bar, Swiss Dream Napo Box and Hershey’s Kisses Tin to their vast repertoire.

Goldkenn Crystal Gold Bar: Wonderfully crafted Swiss milk chocolate praline with a dash of cocoa sprinkles, encased in a refined gold and transparent crystal effect exterior. The premium chocolate comes in a 200g bar, priced at Rs. 1395.

Swiss Dream Napo Box: Crafted with superior ingredients having the finest taste, bringing the experience of an authentic Swiss lifestyle through the chocolates. The Swiss chocolates come in a 300g box, costing Rs. 695.

Hershey’s Kisses Tin: Uniquely shaped and deliciously tender Hershey’s Kisses milk chocolates in a classically decorated tin, with a rustic vintage charm. The chocolates with the old school charm come in a 240g tin, worth Rs. 995.

The Cocoa Trees outlets can be found at three stores in Mumbai and one Mumbai airport, three in Pune, one in Delhi T3 domestic airport and Goa.

Melted Delights - Chocolate dipping session at The Nature's Basket

When I heard (via social media, of course!) that a chocolate dipping session was going to be held at The Nature's Basket, Bandra, Mumbai, I was more than happy to register myself. I still have fond memories of my review trip of The Cocoa Trees at the store and I was excited about going back there. This time, though, chocolate promised to 'come alive' at the hands of chef Kevin Zhang and what more could a chocolate lover ask for!?

I arrived just in time with friend/ baker/ foodblogger, Reema (http://www.bakeyou.com/) to a full house and we just about got space to stand and watch the session. In his soft-spoken manner, Chef Zhang explained to the guests the types of chocolate, its history, the different manufacturing processes, etc.

Much to the audience's delight, Chef Zhang had samples passed around for pretty much everything he spoke of. Starting with very dark chocolate, he moved to regular milk chocolate, milk chocolate with no added sugar, white chocolate truffles and the pralines. He passed around samples from brands like Belgian, Frey, Geisha, Duc d'O, and Goldkenn among others - all of which are available at The Cocoa Tree outlet at The Nature's Basket.

As the participants tasted the different varieties of chocolate, Chef Zhang explained their characteristics and what the respective brands were famous for. As the session progressed, both he and the audience loosened up, and the place livened up with good cheer. Questions were asked, and with his boyish charm, the seasoned chef shed more light on the techniques of chocolate-making, storing and yes, eating! Some chocolate bars were also given away to some lucky participants, based on random numbers, which added to the excitement.

In the last part of the session, the technique of melting chocolates for the purpose of fondues, dipping or coating was explained by Chef Zhang. He also invited three volunteers to come up and try their hand at making chocolate. Cookies, marshmallows, candy and fruit were some of the things made available to the volunteers to dip in chocolate, garnish them and finally take them home.

The session ended with all participants being given some discount vouchers that could be availed at The Cocoa Trees. I don't know how many shopped for chocolates thereafter, but we left a palate-happy, chocolate-enlightened lot.

The Cocoa Trees, Mumbai

Focus Network Agencies (FNA), the Singapore based branded consumer lifestyle group, has partnered with Cosmo Fine Foods Pvt. Ltd., an Indian organization offering the widest range of international chocolate brands, to launch the boutique store range, The Cocoa Trees in India. The Cocoa Trees is a retail concept store which offers the widest range of international brands under its umbrella. Conceptualized in 2000, it has now grown into a retail chain of 36 boutiques across Asia with presence in China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The Cocoa Trees in India are currently in the cities of Mumbai, Pune and Goa. In Mumbai, the first store was opened at Breach Candy in 2011, and they have recently expanded with two new stores - in Nature's Basket, Bandra and at R City Mall, Ghatkopar. When I was invited to check out their new outlets, I felt exactly like Charlie must have in the chocolate factory. Upon entering the Nature's Basket outlet in Bandra, one is greeting with these huge banners to the left, which announce the presence of a dedicated chocolate section in the basement.

Down a flight of stairs, one sees gift baskets of chocolate things and exclusive shelves of mostly imported chocolate, but these are Nature's Basket properties.

The Cocoa Trees is bright section up front and unmistakable with its happy yellow interiors. Row upon row of the world's best chocolates is quite enough to drive a chocolate aficionado like me mad. In a perfect dream, I would have unlimited money and a super sized shopping cart inside The Cocoa Trees! :)

The Cocoa Trees stocks the best international and indigenous brands including Anthon Berg, Cadbury, Celebrations, Chupa Chups, Cote d’Or, Daim, Droste, Duc d’O, Fazer, Ferrero, , Gavottes, Goldkenn, Haribo, Hawaiian Host, Hershey’s, Jelly Belly, Jules Destrooper, Kagi, Kinder, Lorenz, M&M’s, Maltesers, Mars, Mentos, Merci, Milka, Ritter Sport, Snickers, Starburst, Storz, Swiss Delice, Taveners, The Belgian, Tic Tac, Toblerone. The Cocoa Trees also stocks rare brands like Frey, which are exclusively licensed to be sold only at their stores. Besides, new brands like Zaini which have all Disney characters in their edd-shaped chocolates, have been added.

I saw these cute Zaini chocolate boxes shaped like the Disney character, Lightning Mc Queen from the movie Cars and thought, THIS! my 3-year-old will love! Other kiddy touches like the Chupa Chups lillipop stand with giant lollipop-shaped containers, teddies holding candy and M & M stands shaped like their popular animated avatars make the store an altogether delightful place for young customers.

But there are plenty of things to get not so young customers like me excited too. For example, some unbelievable flavours like the Frey Lemon Pepper Dark chocolate! Lemon Pepper? But that's what one puts in their soup, right? I HAD to pick a bar up. Review will be up soon!

And then there were these Oreo boxes shaped like giant cookies that totally make you want to forget your diet and container after container of different chocolate flavours from Sorini and Ritter Sport Minis that are sold by weight. Mind-blown as I was, there was some space for heartbreak too when I noticed that the store did not have any Toblerone dark chocolate. Are you'll taking note, dear store owners?

After walking around and gushing over all these beauties, it was time to leave. I was presented with a gorgeous hamper from The Cocoa Trees that comprised a box each of some delightful Belgian Pralines, Jules Destrooper Belgian Chocolate Thins (biscuits) and Merci assorted chocolates. I was a little disappointed to find most of these melting by the time I took them home, but then these delicate exotic things can hardly be expected to withstand Mumbai summers.

Anyhow, what's a little melted chocolate when they're so darned beautiful and mmmm...-inducing? I tried German-made Merci first, which is a collection of 20 fine assorted chocolates. The flavours include Milk Chocolate, Coffee & Cream, Hazelnut-Almond, Hazelnut-Creme, Marzipan, Dark Cream, Dark Mousse and Praline-creme. They are ideally had at room temperature, but I had to keep them in the fridge to save their form. Even when hardened, they chocolates melt quickly in the mouth and lose none of their rich delightful flavours.

At INR 550, this 250 g pack of 20 assorted chocolates makes for a wonderful gift idea, and if it is a chocolate aficionado you are trying to impress, look no further. You will say 'merci' to me for this one.

Next up was a pack of four Belgian pralines, so amazing I would have been happy only kissing them. Too bad they had melted a lot as well and needed refrigeration and eventual eating. I know, what a hard life I have. :D The Belgian pralines from... duh, Belgium, are crafted to perfection and are almost worth their price (almost 50 bucks apiece!). For those who don't know, regular pralines refer to a confection made of nuts and sugar, but Belgian pralines have a hard chocolate shell with a soft (sometimes liquid) filling. They are also referred to as chocolate bonbons or Belgian chocolates.

The four pralines in this box included a white chocolate, a milk chocolate, a dark chocolate and a dark chocolate with nuts. Delicate doesn't even begin to describe these lovelies and they were lapped up before one could say 'Bless The Cocoa Trees'.

And finally, there was a chocolate-biscuit pack from a brand that's completely new to me - Jules Destrooper. The Belgian biscuiterie (my favourite new word!) is over a hundred years old and if I've never heard of it, that must be because very few, if any, places in India import it. But that's changing, of course, because of The Cocoa Trees. The best, most exotic chocolate brands of the world are now available under one roof.

The 100 g Jules Destrooper pack of Belgian Chocolate Thins are nothing but chocolate coated crispy biscuits. The kinds of chocolate are the usual dark, milk and white, only Amazing with a capital A. The biscuits are of just the perfect hardness and crunch and taste unbelievably good in combination with the chocolate. Because these babies melted too, I have no idea whether there are 10 thins or five in that pack - they got stuck, I think. Nevertheless, they are well worth their INR 275, and I most definitely recommend it, as I recommend a visit to The Cocoa Trees.

Seriously people, whether or not you are a chocolate aficionado, make one trip to experience the unique concept of this store. Also, people who are clueless about gift ideas, The Cocoa Trees is the answer to all your prayers.

Address: The Cocoa Trees, @ The Nature's Basket, Hill Road, Bandra, Mumbai
Website: http://www.thecocoatrees.com/
Phone: 022 - 26425050, 26421122
FB: www.facebook.com/CocoaTrees