I don’t know what’s better, Cleo Otter or an encounter with Kumar Agarwal. Both ranked fairly high in my memories of 2025’s NWCF. Meeting Kumar was a spectacular combination of knowledge, enthusiasm, and curiosity. Then there’s Cleo Otter. She pleasantly nibbles on chocolate while telling stories about her friends. What’s not to love?? Let me introduce you to Choco Del Mar chocolate. It was founded in 2024 by Kumar Agarwal, and it’s based on the California coast in Los Altos. Cleo Otter is the brand’s mascot, but have no fear about her diet, she’s a cartoon otter so it’s ok. Kumar was an applications programmer, but luckily for us he changed his direction and started small batch chocolate making. Initially, Choco Del Mar was based in Santa Cruz County, later moved to Santa Clara County and underwent a refresh to highlight its single origin chocolate bars. Choco Del Mar makes single origin dark and dark milk chocolate bars with ethically sourced ingredients, and has collaborations with local food brands. Choco Del Mar has won 5 International Chocolate awards since 2024.
Now let me introduce you to Choco Del Mar’s 70% Cream Esmeraldas chocolate bar. The bar has 4 ingredients– cacao nibs, cane sugar, cocoa butter, and heavy cream powder. Cream is added to the bar to enhance its flavors while limiting the amount of sugar added.
Sight: clean, classic molding; love the outer packaging and all things Cleo and Friends.
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity, chocolatey with a hint of brightness
Mouth Feel: moderate thick melt with smooth texture
Taste: it opens with a fruity brightness, like cherries, and rich chocolate with cream that picks up a nutty flavor along the way
Astringency: mild
Summary: It’s an otter eating chocolate. That, for sure, is reason enough to trial the bar. However, once you taste it you’ll be hooked. It’s rich and luxurious, with a brightness and nuttiness that ascent the chocolate instead of taking away from it. It’s not style over substance, it’s just darn good chocolate with a darn good marketing idea. I’ve ordered from them, twice. And when their Cleo shirt is back in stock, I’m ordering another one, along with more chocolate.