AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin chocolate company is shutting down after years in business since skyrocketing ingredient costs have made it impossible to continue.
Harshit Gupta and his husband, Elliott Curelop, launched Madhu Chocolate in 2018 as a way to transform their passion for Indian-inspired flavors into handcrafted chocolate bars.
“For some, it was the thing that, ‘Oh it brought nostalgia, oh it brings me back to my motherland,’” Gupta said. “It brings those flavors in which I have been missing.”
As demand grew, the business exploded, producing up to 600 chocolate bars a day. In 2024, Gupta said things took a turn when severe weather and disease struck cocoa crops in West Africa, sending prices soaring.
Gupta said the cost of cocoa beans more than doubled—from $7 per kilogram to $16—while cocoa butter skyrocketed from $9 to $41 per kilogram.
“For us, it became clear that if we want to be profitable, these chocolate, we had to start selling it at around $16 a chocolate,” Gupta said.
For one year, Gupta said they tried everything they could to stay afloat, like increasing prices and trying different ingredients, but ultimately decided it was best to close their doors.
“It is very sad and depressing and heartbreaking,” Gupta said. “There’s a lot of emotions going on, for —we have like so many days of crying about it because obviously we have put— we started from grounds up.”
Despite the difficult decision, Gupta said their journey was more than just a business; it was about building a community. In the future, if it becomes affordable again, he said he would like to pick up where he left off.
Madhu Chocolate invites the community to attend a goodbye party they are holding on Saturday, April 12, at their location on Metropolis Drive. The “sweet farewell” party will run from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, their last day of business is April 30.