{"posts":[{"id":"6225a1f2025072002b0d9b3b","uuid":"28757dbf-df6f-4765-b96a-169743356f6b","title":"Building IBH N.0","slug":"ibh-n-0","html":"

IBH was created with a simple objective - make it easy to discover the new-age insurgent brands in India and buy from them. We have close to 450 brands on the directory and looking to add more in the future. We've been slow in adding new brands, but you will see more updates soon.

What makes IBH different is that people come with an intent to explore and purchase from brands they want to support, unlike on Instagram or other social platforms where the discovery is accidental, paid or influencer-led. We would like to keep it consumer-first, with no ads and promotions. The noise level in consumer space is very high today, and we would like to see IBH as a clutter-breaking, approachable platform for our users.

We believe going forward, IBH can be more than just a directory, though. We want to build small pieces of infrastructure to help both the consumers and brands. We have some initial thoughts, and we want to take this opportunity to share some of them with you. So here goes.

IBH Web App

The first version of IBH was built on Webflow, a simple tool to transform a spreadsheet into a friendly website. It worked well as long as the site had limited interactions. But adding more interactive stuff was hard. For all the ease no-code tools offer, they can be quite a handful and sometimes feel hacky. So now IBH is a web app. That's not all. We have a few new features - user accounts, favourites list. We will go live with new features on April 1. Yes, you read it right.

Reviews

We wanted to work on reviews early on, but we were unsure, so we ran a poll. Almost everyone wanted to see a review, but few wanted to contribute. That's the way a UGC platform works. Before we move on, it's good to ask why we need reviews? Why is an IBH-like platform better?

With so many launches, claims and use-cases, it's hard to make a good purchase decision. A well-written review can nudge people to choose one over another or altogether drop the purchase. Yes, marketplaces host reviews, but consumers view them with suspicion because these reviews can be gamed. Brands capture reviews too, but consumers tend to discount them.

Then there is a problem of negative reviews outnumbering positives ones. We, as consumers, are more inclined to write a negative review (after a poor experience) to express our grievance than write a positive one (after a good experience). When reviews are just star-rating and open text box, this is what you will get. Review prompt can be designed better.

We need an independent platform to share reviews, a platform free of ads, affiliate sales or promotions. A trustworthy review platform is a public good managed by a community, which is what we will try to do on IBH. The reviews data will be accessible to consumers and brands on the web and via an API. Not just that, we will take steps to ensure that review writers on the platform are verified so eliminate as many bad actors as possible.

Of course, there are more details and open areas to consider, and we will share more as we go forward. We would love to hear your views, suggestions and feedback. You can use this form to send us your comments.

User Research

We hear about usability research; user experience research in software parlance but not so much in consumer space. Although all this does happen in CPG. Brands often outsource this work to an agency. We believe this can be done in-house at a fraction of cost and time. More valuable for brands with small teams early in the development cycle.

Putting together a user study can be daunting, and we would like to help brands put this together. We believe that IBH community members are already willing to participate and support their favourite brands to become better. The user research is a mini-app on its own; if there are takers, we will explore monetizing this piece. We would love to hear your views, suggestions and feedback. You can use this form to share it.

Product Launches, Drops

It is hard to keep pace with so many brand and product launches. We can't rely solely on serendipitous discoveries on Instagram or other social media platforms. We would like to build a space similar to Product Hunt but for new launches - brands and products included. The launch space will allow brands and consumers to interact, ask questions and learn more from the founders or their teams on the genesis of the brand/product, what makes them unique and so on. Of course, everything is predicated on consumer traffic to build steadily. Like to share your thoughts, you can use this form.

Community Events + Interviews

We expect that reviews will be the centrepiece of IBH, around which we can build a community. It's only natural to convene as a group virtually and IRL. We will host events to talk about brands, products, trends and stories. We will publish interviews of members and other stakeholders as well.

Closing

Sure, this is quite a lot, and not everything is starting concurrently and cannot be done alone. Along with consumers, we also need the brands to be first-class citizens on the platform. Like the consumers, the brands will get access to review data (read-only), and they can control the media assets used to represent them on the platform and so on.

So, that's it.

We have a new, improved app on its way, and next, we will pick the reviews. We will start small but love to involve more people as we build. So if you would like to create an exciting piece of infrastructure in the CPG space, do drop a line.

Each initiative has its own feedback form (see above), but if you want to talk or learn more about IBH, just ping on insurgentbrandnews@gmail.com. I will also reach out to some of you to brainstorm and build on the initial ideas.

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The best way to savour a bar of bar chocolate is to take a piece and stick it to the roof of the mouth and let it melt. The more sweetened chocolates will melt faster, revealing flavours quickly. In contrast, the ones with more cocoa reveal their flavours slower. It's hard to persevere and not chew it away. But patience is the virtue! So much for a piece of chocolate?

Chocolate making is quite a complex process of flavour extraction that starts immediately after the beans are harvested. The untreated beans are astringent and bitter; after fermentation, they develop fruity, wine-like flavours. Drying and roasting the fermented beans (similar to coffee) can introduce various flavours such as nutty, flowery, woody, and spicy. The complexity increases when the beans are ground, mixed with cocoa butter, sugar, and tempered. With so many degrees of freedom in chocolate making, it is possible to carve small niches in the market and build a strong brand identity. Here are some of the trends we notice in the market

Tree-to-bar chocolate brands manage cocoa estates and control the entire value chain. The profound control allows brands to bring many experimental flavors to the consumer. The estates of most tree-to-bar brands are in India, and the Indian cocoa still too young to compete with Africa.
Bean-to-bar chocolate brands start with the bean and build on the base flavors. These brands procure beans from across the world, which makes their chocolates interesting.
Artisanal chocolate brands might start with beans or made chocolates and then work on building flavours through tempering and additives such as spices, fruits, flowers, and so on.
Functional chocolate brands develop products for consumers with lifestyle conditions such as diabetes.

It is inspiring to see the passion with which the founders build their brands; also, the subtleties differentiate them from one another. While we have new insurgent chocolate brands, one incumbent making significant moves in the dark chocolate space is Amul. The incumbent has both a great collection of chocolates and also a formidable distribution. For the insurgent, the critical differentiator is the product and philosophy, good. Still, the sooner they get distribution, the better for their growth.

So what led to the dark chocolate boom? Many things such as travel, exposure to new cuisines, evolved palate, and social media. More importantly, the perception that dark chocolates are healthier is also one of the main drivers for the uptake. So, a lot of positive sentiment for dark chocolates. Go for a bar of dark chocolate the next time you want to try one; IBH has a good collection of brands.

Colocal Chocolates: Single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate. Cocoa is sourced from estates around the world.

All Things: Premium bean-to-bar chocolates.

Chitram Craft Chocolates: Single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate. Cocoa is sourced from estates of Kerala

La Folie: Single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate. Cocoa is sourced from estates around the world.

Pascati: Single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate.

Koko Pods: Tree-to-bar chocolates in delicious flavours.

Sihi Chocalaterie: Chocolates, cocoa powders from locally sourced beans.

Paul and Mike: Tree-to-bar chocolates in interesting flavours.

Ether: Premium chocolates made with single-origin cocoa.

Naviluna: Single-origin, bean-to-bar, artisan dark chocolate.

Cocoatrait: Organic bean-to-bar chocolate.

Mason & Co: Organic, single-origin chocolates.

Soklet: Single-origin, tree-to-bar, made in India gourmet chocolate.

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The Juice

IBH Notes

Building IBH N.0

The Dark Chocolate Phenomenon

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