I’d never heard of HOCCO before but I picked up a few of their ready-to-eat Indian meals at the Grocery Outlet, recently (for $1.99) and thought they were worth a quick review. Actually I bought every variety of Indian meal on the shelf that day, as research for a GSP post on the social & environmental impact of shelf-stable Indian meals. Over the next couple of weeks, I tried meals from Hocco, Tasty Bite, Geeta’s, and Patak’s and was most interested in Hocco. I’ll explain…
When I tried chickpea-based meals from the four brands above I thought that Hocco’s Chana Masala was one of the most enjoyable. Part of this was due to Hocco’s product being a little spicy and thus suiting my palate better. That said, the products that were a little mild for my taste were much improved by adding some chopped raw green chili on top.
But another reason why Hocco’s product was enjoyable was the high fat content. I’ll get into this below – it’s actually the main reason why, although enjoyable, I won’t be buying Hocco products again. First, let’s take a look at the company.
Who or what is HOCCO?
The name HOCCO stands for House of Chonas Collaborative, a reference to the Chonas family that founded the company.
Satish Chona built the ice cream brand Havmor, beginning in Karachi in 1944 and then starting over after Karachi became part of newly-formed Pakistan in 1947. Havmor ice cream grew for decades and in 2017, under the leadership of Satish’s grandson, Ankit Chona, was sold to Korean company Lotte Confectionery. As part of the deal, the Chona family held onto the Havmor restaurant chain, which was rebranded as HOCCO Eatery.
Hocco chana masala – ingredients and nutrition facts
Hocco ready-to-eat meals had a soft launch in 2020 and a full launch in 2023, around the same time as Hocco’s new line of ice cream. Interesting strategy, to sell your ice cream brand and then launch a new ice cream brand a few years later…
Take a look at the ingredient list for Hocco’s Chana Masala, which is the meal I liked the most, of the three I tried.
HOCCO Chana Masala: Chickpeas White (Kabuli Chana 28%), Tomato Puree, Black Pepper, Sunflower Oil, Onion, Cotton Seed Oil, Cumin, Spices (Cumin Seed Powder, Red Chilli Powder, Cinnamon, Cardamon, Clove), Salt, Garlic, Green Chilli, Ginger, Water.
The ingredient list looks fine at first, but when I look at the nutrition facts panel and see that the product is 17.4% fat, something doesn’t add up. Chickpeas contain only a little fat (2 or 3%) so most of the fat comes from the sunflower oil and cottonseed oil. That’s all fine, but why is black pepper listed before these oils – surely the product doesn’t contain more than 10% black pepper?! Ingredients should be listed in order of quantity, from highest to lowest.
I’m also fairly sure the product doesn’t contain less water than all other ingredients. So, get your act together, Hocco and list ingredients in the correct order! This is required by law.
There’s another issue with the fat content (see this Reddit thread for a discussion) – 65% of the total fat content is saturated fat. This does not compute for sunflower and cottonseed oil and it seems most likely that Hocco is using hydrogenated (or partially hydrogenated) oils. But this is not declared on the ingredient list.
Bottom line – I’m not buying Hocco products again. I need to trust that the food I’m eating is what’s listed on the box. I avoid partially-hydrogenated oils because of the high health risk of consuming trans fats.
Believe it or not, there were even more problems with the product that I picked up at the Grocery Outlet – the Nutrition Information panel claimed that it contains 8.3 g of protein per 150 g serving. That’s not correct either!
Ethical rating for HOCCO ready-to-eat Indian meals
Here’s a summary of how I feel about the social and environmental impact of Hocco Indian meals, which I’m scoring 3 out of 5 Green Stars.
- Most Hocco meals center on legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, and split peas. As described in the seminal paper by Oxford scientists, Poore and Nemecek (2018), the environmental footprints of legumes are 50 to 100 times smaller than those of beef.
- I don’t like plastic, not only because it persists in nature but also because of the plastic industry’s growing carbon footprint. But there are a couple of big advantages to the packaging used for shelf-stable meals:
- First, the extended shelf life offered by aseptic packaging like these pouches has been demonstrated to reduce food waste. As you’ve probably heard, reducing food waste ranks pretty high in actions to address climate change and other planetary boundaries.
- Second, this kind of packaging does not require refrigeration – a significant contributor to climate change due to its use of energy and refrigerants, most of which are potent greenhouse gases.
- Shelf-stable Indian meals have filled a niche for low-budget convenient food that’s also planet-friendly. In a way, they are the antithesis to fast food beef burgers – meals produced from plants in the Global South.
- It’s good to support local economies and socially-responsible companies in the Global South. For example, rather than buying chocolate made by Nestlé, we can buy chocolate made by a West-African collective or a Madagascar-based company. India has expertise in food and I’m happy to support industries that reward that.
- However, there are clearly issues with Hocco’s transparency on ingredients. To use hydrogenated oils and not declare this would be quite egregious. This is the main reason I’m dropping the ethical score to 3 out of 5 Green Stars. Health risk is a social impact, as is transparency.
- Hocco also provides virtually no information on the company’s social and environmental impact. It would have been easy to make the cardboard box out of recycled or FSC-certified cardboard, for example. Instead, the box contains too much glue and feels overly glossy. This could serve as a metaphor for a company that appears to have opted for style over substance.
Join the Green Stars Project!
Join the movement to hold corporations accountable (and recognize those with more positive impacts) by including a Green Stars rating when you review a product or business. Also, check out my sister site, The Green Stars Project, for a wider discussion on ethical consumption and social/environmental issues.
Here are a few GSP articles relevant to this post:
- The Ethical Guide to… Self-stable Indian meals
- Environmental footprints of food
- Tetra Pak
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