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Live Long Program
Together, let's do good with good
"I am convinced that the company of tomorrow will only flourish if it places its social and environmental impact at the heart of its strategy. By buying Valrhona, our customers choose a responsible chocolate that is 100% traceable and sourced directly from 18,208 producers who we support in adopting good social and environmental practices. They also choose a company that has been partnering the gastronomy sector for almost 100 years. But Valrhona is above all else the story of its people. Our strength lies in the ties we forge between producers, employees and customers. These ties, which we continue to reinforce every single day, help cocoa producers improve their livelihoods and enable our customers to unleash their creativity in an ever more sustainable way. Let’s act now for the responsible gastronomy of tomorrow!"
Clémentine Alzial
CEO, Valrhona
B Corp, a guide to building tomorrow.
his accolade is certainly a recognition of our sustainable approach, but being a B Corp has never been our end goal. For us, becoming a B Corp means joining a growing community of firms committed to exchanging ideas and challenging each other to take action a better world. It serves as a guide to help us continue to challenge the status quo and have a positive impact.
Discover our "Live Long" approach
Download our latest CSR report and discover our 4 pillars.
You can also visit our press area and access all the charters signed by Valrhona.
Live Long Cocoa
Creating a fairer cocoa sector together
Our challenges related to the cocoa sector
The cocoa sector faces major challenges, which is why we are building our ambitions around three major axes:
- improving living and working conditions,
- protecting the environment
- preserving terroirs and flavor diversity.
Through our long-term partnerships, our knowledge of and close ties with cocoa farmers, our direct relationships with communities in 15 countries, we are committed to promoting fair incomes for farmers, fighting child labor, protecting forests, and achieving carbon neutrality.
Every year, we improve our impact because we believe in empowering cocoa-producing communities. We know there is a long way to go but we are confident that we will be able to move things forward by working closely with all players in the cocoa and chocolate sector.
Our objectives and progress
100% Traceability
for cacao beans from the producer
17% traceability
for cacao beans from the farm parcel. Target: 100% by 2021
81% of the producer countries
visited at least once per calendar year. Target: 100% by 2021
14 out of our 16 source countries
are part of a long-term partnership
93% of our cacao
purchased through a long-term partnership. Initial Target: 90%
7 years
average lenght of a partnership
100% of producers accompanied
towards agroforestry practices by 2025
Long Term Partnership
At Valrhona, we work to create a fair and sustainable cocoa sector by building close, mutually beneficial relationships with our 18,024 cocoa producers. We do this by forging long-term partnerships with producer organizations who share our vision and focus on quality and traceability.
From the construction of housing and schools to the protection of rare cocoa varieties, the projects we carry out together reflect our commitment to producing communities and the environment.
Traceability
At Valrhona, 100% of our cocoa is traced from our 18,024 producers around the world.
This traceability is the basis for creating a fair and sustainable industry.
It allows us to know where our cocoa comes from, who harvested it and under what conditions.
This helps to improve the living and working conditions of producers and to fight against deforestation, while guaranteeing the quality of our cocoa beans.
Protecting the forest and its biodiversity
We are proud to be part of the Cocoa and Forests Initiative through which we join forces with companies and the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana to tackle one of the most pressing issues of our time – deforestation – and together create a cocoa sector in which producers and forests flourish.
We know we can only create the far-reaching change that is so urgently needed if we all work together.
Discover more about our partnerships and actions across the world
See our live long mapOur other pillars
Live Long Environment
Becoming carbon neutral by 2025
Our environmental challenges
From growing cocoa to chocolate distribution and manufacture, every part of our value chain has environmental consequences – notably on the climate and biodiversity - which we at Valrhona are committed to minimizing. Addressing these impacts is essential to ensuring that we have a healthy planet for all in the future.
Our environmental policy sets out the company's ambitions for global preservation and carbon neutrality. In addition to the site's compliance with the latest environmental regulations, our environmental policy is accompanied by concrete actions such as waste control, the use of renewable energy, and eco-design. Thanks to our ISO 14001 and ISO 5001 certifications, we are able to structure the way we manage the environmental impact and energy use in our operations and guarantee the quality of the systems in place. Our driving focus is on becoming carbon neutral 2025. We are now working to tackle our Greenhouse Gas emissions from plantation to plate, from eliminating the footprint of our factory and reducing transport-related emissions to fighting deforestation and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
Our objectives and progress
-57% of greenhouse gas emissions
since 2013. Objective: - 60% reduction
90% of waste recovery
Target: 100%.
69% of renewable energies
in the energy mix. Target: 79%.
79% of recyclability rate
of our packaging. Target: 85%
75% of new products
meet our eco-design criteria. Objective : 100%.
-8% of global waste production
Versus 2013. Objective: - 50% reduction
-45% of water consumption
Versus 2013. Objective: - 50% reduction
-22% of total energy consumption
Versus 2013. Objective: - 50% reduction
Carbon Neutrality
All operations in our value chain, from production to logistics to distribution, generate environmental impacts that the company is committed to minimising. A relevant approach to impact reduction begins with carbon footprinting and life cycle analysis.
Energy: being an exemplary industrialist
In addition to reducing our consumption, we are acting on the origin of energy to promote renewable sources. For the past 4 years, 100% of our electricity has come from certified hydropower purchases. Through the purchase of Guarantee of Origin Certificates, we contribute to the financing of the renewable energy sector.
Our other pillars
Live Long Gastronomy
Accompanying our customers towards responsible gastronomy
Commitment to the gastonomy professions
Food is one of life’s great pleasures – sustaining us, transporting us, and bringing us together for shared experiences. But today we’re in the midst of a climate, biodiversity, and public health crisis, crises for which the food system must shoulder significant responsibility.
At Valrhona, we believe that the world of gastronomy can be the source of the solution. Chefs have the ability to create food culture - influencing how what and when people eat. It is this power that can be used to positively impact the planet, our diets, and our future. Increasingly, chefs are taking action to integrate their social and environmental impact into their creations.
Through Live Long Gastronomy, we aim to support them to do so and together create a world of gastronomy that not only looks and tastes good, but that also does good too.
Our objectives and progress
16K people trained
by l'Ecole Valrhona around the world
6 projects carried out by our subsidiaries
in the field of gastronomy
10K people trained
by l'École Valrhona.
Projects carried out by our subsidiaries
Whether in Spain, Japan, China, South Africa, Asia-Pacific or Italy, Valrhona subsidiaries are involved in the field, carrying out projects in partnership with the profession and local associations.
Our other pillars
Live Long Together
Constructing a sustainable business with and for our stakeholders
Building a committed ecosystem
Valrhona is above all story about people. Beyond being just a chocolate company, our strength lies in the ties we create between producers, collaborators and customers. This was thrown in relief in 2020.
By separating us, the pandemic showed us the importance of human connection. Over the course of the year, we have seen communities come together in the most difficult of times and we have found new ways to work and be together, even when we are separated.
At Valrhona, our suppliers, staff, and clients stood by us during hard times. We too, did our best to offer our support to them in turn. It is these bonds that have enabled us to get through the past year, and that will ensure that in the future we will be able to help improve farmers’ livelihoods and support clients to shape a sustainable and creative world of gastronomy.
Our objectives and progress
100% of employees
have a CSR objective in 2020
13% of employees
trained in CSR through "ecodesign" training
100% of suppliers
have signed our Responsible Purchasing Charter
678,428€ of donations
throughout the year
Employees
Valrhona's mission can only be achieved if its strategy is built and deployed in a logic of co-development and synergy with Valrhona's major stakeholders.
We involve the latter throughout our value chain, taking into account their expectations and the challenges of our businesses, starting with our employees.
Suppliers
Valrhona, as a buyer, has the responsibility to know its industry and to manage the diversity of its supplies.
We are therefore very involved with our suppliers to co-construct a responsible value chain, lasting relationships of trust and an approach of continuous and mutual improvement.
Valrhona's role is to make suppliers aware of tomorrow's issues and responsible practices so that they can accompany the company's transformations.
Customers
Valrhona's responsibility is to satisfy all its customers, in their diversity and their requirements.
In addition to a unique and high quality product, Valrhona's 40,000 customers increasingly expect a real accompaniment, and an awareness of the gastronomy of tomorrow.
Valrhona therefore strives to meet their needs by coconstructing a responsible chain right up to the consumer.
