You may not have the right answers, but learn how to ask the right questions.
That was a memorable takeaway from the time Mr Abhimanyu Goel (MSc ISD ’16) and Ms Aakanksha Jain (MSc ISD ’16) spent at the National University of Singapore— where systems thinking, experimentation and an interdisciplinary education encouraged them to explore ideas through different perspectives and materials.
One such question — “Why not chocolate?” — would form the foundation for their successful business, Modesi Chocolates.
Bars, thins, balls — chocolates have been known to come in different forms and shapes for years. But less heard of are chocolates that pay homage to cultural motifs like Peranakan tiles and architectural icons like Marina Bay Sands.
That’s what the married couple have set out to do with Modesi Chocolates. Degrees in architecture and urban planning may not be natural bedfellows with the world of chocolate-making. But it all starts to make sense when you discover their passion for the project, which was sparked by boredom during COVID-19.
“It was a time when all of us retreated into our hobbies,” explains Ms Aakanksha. “For me, that was baking and for Abhi, it was 3D printing. One night we thought of combining our passions and that’s how we started.”
Using a 3D printer, they created a rudimentary mould of the Sydney Opera House, which became their prototype. “We’re both architects at heart, so we naturally gravitated towards buildings,” says Mr Abhimanyu.
A FINE BALANCE
That initial creation offered important lessons on design, scale and detail. He continues, “The Sydney Opera House we made was a really big piece of chocolate that we couldn’t finish eating. So we decided to make things a lot more bite-sized, but that then affects how detailed the product can be. It’s a balance we try to strike: something that’s instantly recognisable, but can still be enjoyed as a light treat.”
Ms Aakanksha adds that she wants people to actually eat their creations. “It’s nice to admire but at the end of the day, that shouldn’t take away from its function as food.”
That ethos has informed Modesi Chocolates’ expansion to motifs beyond architecture. These days, they do festive drops on social media, with unique patterns that celebrate various communities. “Our Instagram was flooded with enquiries after our recent Lunar New Year release,” says Ms Aakanksha, who quit her job as an urban planner to focus on the business earlier this year. “After we released our Hari Raya special, we shared our designs with Eric Broug, a scholar in Islamic art from London. He was impressed that we had created such designs in chocolate.”
Their culturally inspired creations have since earned wider recognition, including a recent A’Design Award in Food, Beverage and Culinary Arts Design for their chocolate creation “Ashwa Nova”.
THEIR RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
Making everything from scratch and in-house has been critical to their sweet success. Using 3D printing as part of the process allows them to maintain control over both design and quality—two aspects they are unwilling to compromise on. But more than that, it gives them the flexibility to adapt quickly. Their early pieces were shared among friends and family, before gaining traction at design conferences and exhibitions. “We would just bring them along to show people what we were doing,” recalls Mr Abhimanyu. “And then people started asking if we could create something for them.”
Corporate orders soon followed, with clients hankering for opportunities to translate their identities into something tangible. Some come with strict requirements, such as logos and brand colours. Others give the duo more creative freedom.
“It always starts with a story,” Ms Aakanksha explains. “What are they trying to say? Why chocolate?” Most of the time, it boils down to the universal joy of chocolate. “You can gift it to anyone,” she adds. “It works across cultures and generations.”
Flavours, which range from milk to dark and even pistachio, are another way to extend their storytelling approach, with aroma and taste working together to make the product feel universal and inclusive.
Still, she wants more people to understand how challenging and unforgiving a medium chocolate can be. “It’s especially fragile in Singapore, because of the heat and humidity. But I guess that’s part of the process.”
Tackling this, while also meeting the gold standard of Singapore’s utmost compliment for dessert (“not too sweet”) requires extensive research and development. This is the domain of Mr Abhimanyu, who continues to work full-time as a senior research associate at the University.
“By playing around with factors like the chocolate’s surface area, I can tweak the mouthfeel and snap. This may help you feel like you’re getting more of the chocolatey goodness from just a small piece—which is also better for your health. A plus for health-conscious consumers in Singapore!”
But chocolate, they say, is only the starting point. The long-term ambition is to build Modesi into a broader lifestyle brand—one that applies their architectural and 3D design experience across a range of other materials, including wax and soap.
If their success in sparking dialogue through chocolate is anything to go by, it seems like the conversations are set to flow even more.
CONVERSATIONS IN CHOCOLATE
- Patterns trigger memories: Design inspirations come from shophouses, vintage windows and sights from neighbourhoods. “I was running a chocolate workshop for Singapore General Hospital at a commercial kitchen, and one of the patients said she recognised the windows we had made. We had a whole conversation about how buildings were changing in Singapore,” shares Ms Aakanksha.
- Bridging old and new: An upcoming series will explore the dialogue between older architecture and their newer counterparts, evoking nostalgia through design.
