Our Story
Pascati was born out of deep passion of our Co-founder & Chief Chocolate Maker, Devansh Ashar.
Devansh, a graduate in Hospitality Management from Cal Poly Pomona, USA, returned to India in 2009 and started his career in hospitality at Le Meridien Mumbai (now Hilton Mumbai). He last stint was at the Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad in 2013, managing the award winning fine dining restaurant 'Adaa'.
A trained and certified Level I from Court of Master Sommeliers, USA, Devansh is also a avid coffee enthusiast and has represented India at the Illy Cafe Barista Championship 2009 in Trieste, Italy, where his concoction 'Illy Cafe Mojito' was awarded the Grand prize.
In the winter of 2014, Devansh saw his young nephew eating a bar of compound. He noticed how chewy it was and made him wonder why is it so different than a bar of Lindt, which was much smoother and melted on the palate effortlessly. This curiosity led him to search on Google of how chocolate is made, where he discovered the process of chocolate making all the way from Bean to Bar. Bean to bar chocolates or craft chocolates were gaining popularity in USA but there were barely any makers in India. He decided to take an online chocolate making course with Ecole Chocolat Canada and modified an idli grinder to make chocolate in his bedroom.
He first shared his confections with family and friends and soon participated at the local, weekend markets. As he got more positive feedback, he set up a 400 sq ft unit at Daman (U.T.). When he started, Devansh was the third bean to bar chocolate maker in the country and first in Mumbai.
He christened the brand 'Pascati', derived from Sanskrit word Pascat Parivesya which translates to a sweet meal. The brand’s vision of being truly Indian is reflected in its logo with प and P.
Over the next 3 years, Pascati became India's first USDA Organic and Fairtrade compliant chocolate brand. Pascati set itself stringent quality standards when it came to sourcing its ingredients adhering to Organic standards and Fairtrade norms.
With Pascati's retail presence now seen in various major cities of India and in hotel mini bars, we moved to a new 4500 sq ft facility in Hamrapur, Palghar, Maharashtra in 2016.
Devansh works closely with the cacao farmer groups from where he sources quality certified organic cacao. He has progressively trained farmers to develop fermentation protocols that affect the flavour profile of the cacao and ultimately the tasting notes of the final product - chocolate.
Pascati proudly collaborates with Elements, the founder promoter and trading partner of Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (FTAK) to source its Malabar Hills origin cacao. FTAK is a small farmer collective of 5000 organic farmers engaged in responsible soil stewardship in the Western Ghats region of India. Idukki origin cacao is sourced from Plantrich's farmers cooperative led by women in the Idukki and Kottayam regions.