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Our Mission
Together, Good becomes Better
Our Mission Report 2022
To remain a pioneer, we have to take action. In 2022, as it was in the previous three years, our entire value chain has been impacted by a very turbulent wider environment. In spite of these many challenges, Valrhona continues to believe that, by acting together today, we will be able to remain pioneers tomorrow. That means working with our employees, chefs and cocoa producers to test new things, experiment, innovate and imagine solutions that will build tomorrow’s world.
Social and environmental responsibility has always been at the heart of our development model. Now more than ever, Valrhona is aware of how its business has a knock-on effect on the environment and is implementing specific action to reduce this impact.
B Corp, a guide to building tomorrow.
Since January 2020, Valrhona has been part of the B Corp™ community.
This certification recognizes the companies across the world that meet the highest social and environmental standards and that are committed to progress.
This makes Valrhona the world's largest B Corporation®-certified manufacturer of chocolate for professionals.
Our Mission report
It is thanks to our commitments throughout our entire value chain – from the cocoa producer to chefs in their kitchens – that we’re creating a more responsible chocolate and are working to achieve our mission: "Together, good becomes better."
Visit our press area to access our previous reports and all our charters.
Cocoa
Creating a fair and sustainable cocoa sector
Our challenges related to the cocoa sector
Our cocoa strategy is evolving to this day and it is structured around our three fundamental principles:
- improving the living and working conditions of farmers,
- protecting the environment
- preserving the soil and flavors.
Improving conditions in schools and communities’ health and hygiene are major focus areas which improve our relationships on the ground, as are protecting forest areas and reducing carbon emissions.
The cocoa team is ramping up its commitment to its partners so that we can set up joint projects that impact producers’ and families’ living conditions.
Our objectives and progress
100% Traceability
of cocoa beans can be traced back to the producer. Target: maintain 100% by 2025.
60% traceability
for cacao beans from the farm parcel. Target: 100% by 2025.
93% of the producer countries
visited at least once per calendar year. Target: 100% by 2025.
14 countries
have a long-term partnership
99.8% of our cacao
purchased through a partnership of at least 3 years.
8.5 years
average lenght of a partnership.
16,979 producers
Long Term Partnership
At Valrhona, we work to create a fair and sustainable cocoa sector by building close, mutually beneficial relationships with our 16,979 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 producers around the world. 60% of cocoa beans can be traced back to the individual plot with an objective of 100% by 2025.
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 committed to protecting the forests in the 14 countries where we source our cocoa. We know that tropical farming, including of cocoa, is one of the main causes of deforestation and biodiversity loss.
This environmental damage not only contributes to climate change, but also threatens the future of our producers and supply chain. This is why we must ensure the conservation of the environmental heritage of producer countries and work with our cocoa-producing partners to promote responsible farming.
Education and combatting child labor
Child labor is a major problem facing the entire cocoa and chocolate sector. Due to our belief that to have the greatest impact any action must be collective, we joined the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) in 2017. Since 2018, Valrhona and the Valrhona Solidarity Fund have helped to improve access to education in three countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana and Venezuela.
Key figures
- 8 schools were built and 3 renovated in 3 countries (Ghana, Ivory Coast, Venezuela)
- 50 classes welcomed students in good educational conditions
- In 2022, 2,555 students benefited from new school infrastructure.
Preserving the soil and flavors
We aim to maintain the diversity of the tastes we offer. The soil, climate, genetic diversity of plants and human expertise shape the tastes and subtleties of agricultural products. Participating in sustainable sectors also involves preserving and identifying new tastes and cocoa varieties that are part of the national heritage of our partner countries. These projects help create jobs in rural areas and boost the agricultural sector. For us, these projects will also be sources of innovation in order to offer new chocolates and inspire our customers.
Discover more about our partnerships and actions across the world
See our live long mapOur other pillars
Environment
Reducing our environmental impact
Our environmental challenges
Our activities – from growing cocoa to selling chocolate – have an impact on the environment. At Valrhona, we are committed to minimizing these impacts. This makes sense from a commercial point of view, but also and most importantly to guarantee us a healthy future and a healthy planet.
Valrhona has chosen to align with the global move towards carbon neutrality. So that we can combat climate change and make a meaningful transition towards an environmentally friendly way of working, we have made exact calculations of our emissions a priority. This will enable us to take action and, most importantly, to reduce the emissions we make.
Our objectives and progress
-67% of GHG (greenhouse gas emissions)
(scope 1 & 2) since 2013. Objective for 2025: -60% - achieved
91% of waste
Objective for 2025: 100%.
71% of renewable energies
in the energy mix. Objective for 2025: 79%.
83% of packaging
is recyclable. Objective for 2025: -100%.
100% of new products
meet our eco-design criteria. Objective for 2025: 100% - Achieved
-18% of global waste production
Versus 2013. Objective for 2025: 50% reduction.
-40% of water consumption
(and 67% less groundwater used) since 2013. Objective for 2025: 50% decrease.
-39% of total energy consumption
since 2013. Objective for 2025: 50% decrease.
Cocoa’s impact on the environment
The climate crisis is the greatest challenge of our time. At Valrhona, we know that the future of our planet, not to mention our company, depends on our ability to put the climate first in everything we do – every decision, every action, every investment.
Cocoa plays a major role in Valrhona’s carbon footprint, so our ambition is to reduce its impact via a sourcing strategy.
Eco-design
Our aim is to offer our customers increasingly responsible products. Our stakeholders judge our products’ quality and sustainability by their ingredients and recipes – but also by the packaging and materials they use. Valrhona is working to ensure its products have an environmental design that completely lives up to customer expectations while also reducing our impact on the planet and its natural resources.
By thinking about packaging’s recyclability from the design stage onwards, Valrhona has taken up a challenge as it launches its new Gifting range: Doing better but using less. This product range has been designed in line with our ambitions to achieve 100% recyclability by 2025.
Transport
In order to limit its direct emissions, Valrhona has also adopted a transport policy that supports the reduction of GHG emissions linked to employee travel.
Since November 2019, we have been participating in the French government’s FRET21 initiative to reduce our transport emissions, including, for example, minimizing air freight transportation.
Thanks to the actions it undertook as part of FRET21, Valrhona prevented more than 515 tons of CO2 from being emitted in 2022. Valrhona has renewed its commitment to this approach and hopes to reduce C02 emissions by 940 tons between now and 2024.
Reusability: “La Consigne by Valrhona” returnable packaging scheme and reusing our resources
Driven by our zero-waste objective, Returnable Packaging by Valrhona is the name of our ambitious project to reinvent how customers handle the packaging we produce.
Launched in 2020 and based on circular economy principles, this project involves trialing deliveries of new packaging which is then recovered, washed and reintroduced into production processes. In 2022, Returnable Packaging by Valrhona represented 22 tons of chocolate sold since its launch.
Energy
Processing cocoa into chocolate requires a lot of energy. If we want to reduce our carbon footprint, it is essential to improve our energy consumption. We are committed to reducing the amount of energy we use to make our chocolate and to promoting the use of renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.
As part of our efforts to be an exemplary manufacturer in terms of energy consumption, we are proud to say that for the past four years, 100% of our electricity has come from certified purchases of hydroelectric power.
Through these energy purchases under Guarantee of Origin Certificates, we help finance the renewable energy sector.
Water management
Minimizing our environmental footprint also means reducing our water consumption in our industrial activities.
In the manufacturing of its chocolates, Valrhona strives to limit its environmental impact, pollution and resource consumption.
We are now devoting particular attention to our water usage, with the specific objective of cutting our 2013 consumption rates in half by 2025.
Our other pillars
Gastronomy
Making gastronomy creative and ethical
A creative and ethical gastronomy
At Valrhona, we know that gastronomy is a source of delight. We also believe that how we feed ourselves has an impact on biodiversity, the climate and public health.
In partnership with its professional and non-professional customers, Valrhona is supporting initiatives aimed at bringing about a more creative, ethical gastronomy. We are convinced that, together, we all have a role to play in transforming our eating habits and protecting the planet
Our objectives and progress
15,000 professionals advised and trained
by L’École Valrhona worldwide
104 young people
have taken part in the Graines de Pâtissier project
45% young people
enter a CAP apprenticeship after completing the Graines de Pâtissier project
10 regions across France
participated in the Graines de Pâtissier program
The Essentials reimagined using Reasonable Indulgence principles
Today, gastronomy has many challenges to face and must reinvent itself. This is why L’École Valrhona has opted for an approach to gastronomy that is more in tune with the times. This means doing things better but not doing without, using less fat, less sugar but still every bit as delicious.
Challenging ourselves and pushing boundaries are part of L’École Valrhona’s DNA. This is why the Essentials were reworked in 2022. This vital resource returns in 2023 with 22 of its 120 recipes reimagined using Reasonable Indulgence principles.
THE GRAINES DE PÂTISSIER PROGRAM
Graines de Pâtissier is a pre-apprenticeship program that allows young people who are currently not in employment to try out the role of pastry chef and find a potential mentor for their apprenticeship. With this program, the Valrhona Foundation aims to connect young people who are planning their careers with makers looking for reliable, highly motivated apprentices. The program has welcomed 314 young people since 2017, 45% of whom had started an apprenticeship by 2022.
The Don Gino Rigoldi Foundation is an Italian non-profit whose objective is to help young people of all backgrounds find their way in society and the job market. Inspired by Graines de Pâtissier, Valrhona Italy has decided to set up some basic pastry and chocolate courses with the organization. In 2022, 32 hours of training were offered over two weeks to nine young men and one young woman in Turin.
New tools for sustainable sweet cuisine
The sweet cuisine sector faces specific sustainability challenges. However, there was no framework for sharing best practices, nor for gathering advice that could guide chefs and pastry makers in their efforts to improve their craft.
In 2021, our ambition was to remedy this. By working with Food Made Good, Valrhona’s official sustainability partner, as well as 30 chefs from 12 different countries, we are proud to have created two support tools for professionals:
- a guide with practical advice
- and a self-assessment tool to commit to more sustainable sweet cuisine
Our subsidiaries are committed to culinary arts
Whether in Spain, Japan, China, South Africa, Asia-Pacific or Italy, Valrhona's subsidiaries are involved in the field, carrying out projects in partnership with gastronomy professionals and with local associations.
Our other pillars
People and innovation
The driving force behind our business
Valrhona’s strength lies in its ability to innovate and build lasting relationships with its stakeholders, be they employees, producers, partners or customers.
The driving force behind our business
Valrhona is part of a community. Only by innovating alongside all our stakeholders, listening to their needs and working with them can we achieve our mission: “Together, good becomes better.”
We build and maintain these relationships in a variety of ways, including regular satisfaction surveys and focus groups with our employees, customers and suppliers, as well as discussions with NGOs, professional bodies and other companies.
Our objectives and progress
34% of employees
have a CSR objective by 2022. Target: 100% by 2025.
868 of employees
including 430 women & 438 men
73% of suppliers
have signed our responsible purchasing charter. Target: 100% by 2025.
792,354€ of donations
throughout the year
65% of employees
say that Valrhona is a good place to work
24 accidents
resulting in time off work
Komuntu 80%, a unique couverture to mark Valrhona centennial
This new couverture developed for Valrhona’s 100th anniversary symbolizes how vitally important people and innovation are to the company. This unique chocolate is the result of a meticulous process of blending beans of different origins, giving it an aromatic profile that balances powerful cocoa with a whole harmony of flavors.
Komuntu 80% was created using a completely original process and it embodies the strength of the collective because it involves the entire Valrhona value chain.
Symbolizing the strength of collective action
To reaffirm Valrhona’s commitment to a fair and sustainable cocoa industry once again, 100% of the profits made by this chocolate during its first 12 months will be donated to our cocoa producer partners. €131,762 have already been raised as of December 31, 2022.
Employees: the driving force of the company
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.
The Disability and Health Committee
First set up in 2020, the Disability Committee and its six officers are continuing their mission to support employees with disabilities
The Valrhona Foundation
In line with its mission statement, “Together, good becomes better”, Valrhona set up the Valrhona Foundation in 2019.
This independent organization funds and manages projects supporting communities in the cocoa and gastronomy industries. The Valrhona Foundation allows each of us to contribute in our own way to improvements to cocoa-producer communities’ living conditions and to a more open, diverse gastronomy industry.
The Valrhona Solidarity Fund’s achievements since 2019 :
- €1,209,244 donated
- 20 projects supporting communities
- 23,826 beneficiaries
- 7 countries covered by different projects : Ivory Coast, France, Ghana, Haiti, Madagascar, Dominican Republic, Venezuela
Customers
It is Valrhona’s responsibility to satisfy every type of customer, whatever their needs.
Valrhona’s 40,000 customers expect not just unique, top-quality products but also, in an increasing number of cases, real support and greater information about the food industry of tomorrow.
Valrhona is doing everything in its power to meet these needs by working with others to create a responsible industry, right down to the consumer level.
Suppliers
As a buyer, it is Valrhona’s responsibility to understand the sector and successfully manage every different aspect of our supply chain.
We have therefore forged strong relationships with our suppliers so that we can co-create a sustainable value chain, long-lasting trust-based relationships, and a shared approach founded on continuous improvement.
Valrhona has its duty to raise suppliers’ awareness about future issues and sustainable practices, as it is this that will enable them to support our company’s development.
