No matter how much we plan for our life and how we expect it to be like, life often unfolds in many unplanned ways.
Rabina Tuladhar completed Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Thames International College and later got a Diploma in Fashion Designing from IEC College of Art & Fashion. She initially wanted to start a career in fashion. But she soon realized that fashion was not her passion, but only her interest. She then discovered that her real passion was cooking. She is now pursuing it through Bisou Brûler.
“Cooking has always been my passion, but I was not at all good at baking. A year ago or so, I started making chocolates at home, which turned out better than I expected. But it took me many rounds of trial and errors before coming up with the recipes that I have now. And that’s when I started my venture ‘Bisou Brûler’, which means ‘burnt kiss’ in French,” shared Rabina.
Catering to those with a sweet tooth
“There were many start-ups in food, clothing and make-up—the three sectors with most businesses. I wanted to go with something different, and so I started a business of home-made chocolates. I have a passion for cooking and love for chocolates. Only after I started, I realized there were many people making home-made chocolates like me,” she said.
Rabina deals with a local vendor in Kathmandu who imports all of her special set of raw materials including cocoa powder and almonds from Shanghai. The ingredients are all mixed in specific measurements to get a consistent taste.
The taste has already attracted a fair number of chocolate lovers and compelled them to crave for more. Bisou Brûler for now has a range of eight different tastes—Butterscotch Madness, Peanut Butter Cup, Blanc Oreo, Double Blanc Oreo, Noir Oreo, Eclipse, Cookie & Cream, and Chocolate Fraise candy size. Cookie and Cream and Blanc Oreo are two more popular tastes among the eight. The chocolates are sold as single pieces but many order it in bulk. But contrary to people’s guess, the price does not hurt one’s wallet at all.
Among the eight tastes, Butterscotch Madness is the recipe of her mother, Rita Tuladhar. She says her mother has been a mentor and a constant supporter to all her life’s decision, including the starting of Bisou Brûler.
All chocolates in Bisou Brûler are bite-sized that makes them easy to eat and the unusual shape of chocolates coupled with unique taste is their unique selling point. “I constantly follow Master Chef and other cooking shows and also watch tutorials in television and YouTube. I am always learning from customer feedbacks and I keep on experimenting for new taste. I have limited number of moulds but I am also experimenting for new shapes,” she added.
She makes chocolates two days prior to the delivery date. She is the sole owner and delivers orders herself. She sets the chocolate at room temperature and avoids refrigerating it as she believes it destroys the taste. She also recommends the same to others.
Being a marketing student, she understands the significance of the social media and knows it is important to use social media to attract as well as keep the customers engaged. She also realizes the importance of presentation and makes the chocolates look even more irresistible. “Seeing photos in Instagram, people get eager to taste them. And once I deliver, people get so excited to see the packaging and chocolates with a special message. They tag me in the social media to thank me and tell me how they love them,” Rabina shared her experience.
Rabina is currently working to get Bisou Brûler registered and is also working on developing a new taste. Once she is done, she says the focus will be on the packaging. And after having a stable customer base, she plans to open an outlet with more varieties. At the moment, she is doing giveaways to give back to all the love she has received. She said she is always open to collaborations with people with similar idea.
