Give Your Dreams Wings and the Sky is the Limit!
Ladakh is a cold mountainous region in northern part of India with numerous high passes. It is an area of high altitude with astounding scenic beauty. The people of Ladakh live a lifestyle heavily influenced by Buddhism and Tibetan culture. Its capital Leh, located at an elevation of 11,562 ft, is always buzzing with tourist activities. Just like any other tourist, Ms. Saptasri Sreepalaiah Parswanath arrived at Leh in 2022. Little did she know that she would be so captivated by the beauty and simplicity of the place that she would eventually end up relocating to Leh.
Being a trained chocolatier and pâtissier, she listened to her heart and started her maiden entrepreneurial journey with Schoko Monk Chocolates at Leh. However, leaving a well-settled job and hometown for a completely new location solely to pursue her dream required a lot of courage. Today, she is happy and content that she pursued her passion.
As Saptasri uses Eviroror’s eco-friendly food packaging products, we reached out to her to share her story with our readers, to inspire numerous aspiring entrepreneurs who are unsure whether to take a walk on this road less traveled or continue with their current profession.
Following is a snippet from our talk on the epic journey of Saptasri, who plays many roles as a commerce graduate, a traveler, a chocolatier and pâtissier, and now a successful entrepreneur, with equal finesse.
Dear Saptasri, tell us about yourself and about the history of your venture Schoko Monk Chocolates.
Saptasri: I spent a lot of time in Europe and learned a lot about chocolate there. For the past ten years, I have worked as a pâtissier and chocolatier for various five-star hotels and chocolatiers in India and abroad. Since I began my career as a chocolatier, I’ve wanted to open my own chocolaterie and cafe, but I couldn’t decide on a location. After Covid, I returned to India and decided to travel within the country. I arrived in Ladakh and ended up staying for nearly three months. I realized Ladakh has the ideal climate for making chocolates, and since there were no other chocolate makers here, I decided to make Ladakh my home. Schoko means chocolate in German. I chose to put the monks’ land into the cafe’s name because I was opening it in the land of the monks.
What prompted you to begin this endeavor, and what keeps you going?
Saptasri: Chocolate is my only passion. I adore creating and working with chocolate. The experience and service we provide at Schoko Monk Chocolates, are always more important than the monetary aspect. The happy faces I see as customers leave the café, and the smiles in their eyes after eating the chocolates motivate me.
How do you manage your business?
Saptasri: We only have one outlet in Leh, Ladakh. I have two employees. We specialize in handcrafted chocolates, hot chocolate, decadent cakes, coffee, and tea. We do not have any partnerships as Zomato and Swiggy are not operational in Leh city. Customers either walk in or take away their orders. We do not have an online ordering system yet, though one can see our products on our Instagram handle @schokomonkchocolates
How do you ensure the quality of ingredients?
Saptasri: We primarily use ingredients sourced locally. Most of the ingredients grown in Ladakh and Kashmir are organic and free of chemicals and pesticides.
What is your future?
Saptasri: We do not intend to open any other cafes at this time. However, as this is my first venture, I want to run it for a few seasons before considering expansion. We would focus on expanding the menu and maintaining quality consistency. To give back to the community, we make an effort to hire locally, train and empower local youth. There will also be no use of plastics.
Any message to our readers who too have dreams to start their own venture?
Saptasri: “Be patient. Think it through thoroughly and never stop believing in yourself.”
That was an exciting conversation with Saptasri, a valued and esteemed Oko customer who had a life altering moment at Ladakh. She currently uses three customized Oko products for her chocolate boxes. Her experience with Oko has been absolutely fantastic. She admires Oko eco-friendly food packaging for its environmental friendliness, simplicity, and minimalistic design. Oko boxes are practical, easy to assemble & open, durable, and visually appealing. Furthermore, despite the tight schedule and a distant location, Oko is always delivered on time.
At Evirocor, we strive to provide high-quality products at a reasonable price, with on-time delivery, to delight our customers consistently.
We wish Saptasri success and a bright future ahead in all her pursuits.
