Muskaan Agarwal’s ChocoBerry: A Sweet Startup Story from Moradabad

In a small dessert parlour in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, Muskaan Agarwal spends her day blending fruits and chocolate into desserts and smoothies. Every batch is made by hand, with close attention to taste and ingredients.

At Agarwal’s dessert parlour called ChocoBerry, the idea is simple: make delicious sweet treats without preservatives. It is a business built around taste, health, and control over ingredients.

Chocolate has been part of Agarwal’s life since childhood. She loved it, but it often came with restrictions at her house. Her family was health-conscious, so store-bought chocolates were often discouraged because of preservatives and oils. Fruits, however, were always available. Over time, her palate changed. She began imagining flavours that mixed the two. At home, she melted chocolate bars and combined them with fruits, experimenting quietly in the kitchen.

Professionally, Agarwal was already working as a chemistry teacher, preparing students for IIT and NEET exams. Teaching gave her stability and interaction with people. But she wanted to build something of her own. In 2023, she decided to learn chocolate-making seriously. She enrolled in professional courses, studied how raw cocoa is turned into chocolate, and learned how to blend fruits without preservatives. One thing led to another, and what began as a hobby started looking like a product.

Her first products were not chocolates but smoothies. She was looking for vegan options and did not want coffee or packaged juices. She learned that juices lose fibre, while smoothies retain it. Mango came first, then apple. The real breakthrough was a mixed berry smoothie using blueberries, strawberries, mulberries, and other berries. It worked, and people liked it. That success pushed her to combine smoothies and chocolates under one idea.

The biggest hurdle was money and equipment. In a small city like Moradabad, confidence is often limited by resources, especially for women. Agarwal realised that home blenders and microwaves were not enough for a professional brand. Shelf life, consistency, and cost all depended on proper machinery. Mentors made it clear that a serious product needed serious tools.

She began exploring options and learned about a loan under the CM Yuva scheme through her bank. She applied, was found eligible, and received support that allowed her to buy professional machines and set up ChocoBerry properly. “I understood that belief alone is not enough. You need the right tools to give your idea a fair chance,” she says.

Today, ChocoBerry is running steadily. Agarwal balances teaching with her business. Her focus is not mass production but redefining how people see chocolate. She wants it to be low on sugar, free of preservatives, and paired with fruits.

Her message to young people is simple. “If you have an idea and you trust it, at least try. Don’t reject yourself before the world does.”