Valrhona’s mission is to foster a collective movement that unites everyone in our value chain – from the cocoa producer to chefs that we are partnering for now almost 100 years – around the move towards a fairer and more sustainable cocoa sector and gastronomy which does good and tastes great. To imagine the best of chocolate, we launched in 2015 the Live Long Program to embody Valrhona’s CSR policy.
Throughout 4 pillars, we are always looking forward to a more sustainable world of chocolate by showing how our social and environmental commitments make a vital contribution to the quality of our products. These commitments will help to achieve our mission: “Together, good becomes better”
1st pillar: LIVE LONG COCOA
We want to unite everyone working in cocoa, chocolate and gastronomy around the aim of achieving a fairer, more sustainable cocoa industry. Long-term partnerships, traceability, community support projects and actions to boost producer income are just some of the ways we are working towards this goal ambitions.
Our products’ main ingredient – cocoa – is facing major challenges, which is why we are building our ambitions through our long-term partnerships, our knowledge of and close ties with cocoa farmers, our direct relationships with communities in 16 countries, we are committed to promoting fair incomes for farmers, fighting child labour, protecting forests and achieving carbon neutrality.
As we are buying 0.13% of the global cocoa production, we want to keep working to build partnerships that reflect the true value inherent to terroirs and producers’ expert skills, and to support community development projects. Today, 93% of our purchases are made as part of partnerships with a minimum term of three years and we developed this year partnerships in 15 countries with an average term duration of 7 years. Thanks to these long-term partnerships, we are improving every year our impact because we believe in empowering cocoa-producing communities.
At Valrhona, 100% of our cocoa is traced from our 18,208 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. For example, in collaboration with our partner cooperative, all our producers in Ivory Coast have now been geolocated and mapped. This makes our cocoa increasingly traceable right back to the individual plot, so we can ensure our cocoa beans never come from protected forests or national parks.
2nd pillar: LIVE LONG ENVIRONMENT
From growing cocoa to chocolate distribution and manufacture, every part of our value chain has environmental consequences which we, as a business, are committed to minimizing. Our aim is to becoming carbon neutral by 2025.
Our environmental policy sets out the company’s overarching ambitions for the protection we want our business to offer the environment. As well as ensuring our site met the latest environmental regulations, the policy included specific actions around, for example, employee transportation, waste management, water and energy savings, and eco-designing Valrhona products.
Thanks to our ISO 14001 and ISO 5001 certifications, we are now 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.
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.
3rd pillar: LIVE LONG GASTRONOMY
Our Live Long Gastronomy commitment stems from Valrhona’s desire to actively support food professions, ensuring their future and promoting their global outreach. We aim to foster learning and inspire the pastry chefs of tomorrow by drawing on our expertise and passing on our knowledge, particularly through training programs for young people.
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.
This Live Long Gastronomy commitment covers the work of the Fondation Valrhona, the organization of competitions, as well as training provided by L’École Valrhona and Valrhona branches across the world.
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.
4th pillar: LIVE LONG TOGETHER
A responsible company cannot exist without its stakeholders being involved in and consulted on its strategic direction and its vision. The aim of this Live Long Together commitment is to construct a sustainable business with and for our stakeholders.
At Valrhona we are committed to establish regular, quality dialogue with all of the stakeholders, so that together, we can build a sustainable company that is a great place to work both in and with. We are particularly keen to listen to and share perspectives with all Valrhona’s employees, so that we can use various training, mobility and inclusion programs as a way of meeting our objectives around development and quality of life at work. Finally, because our responsibility does not end at our own doorstep, we work to help our customers and suppliers put in place their own sustainable practices.
Our commitment to working collaboratively with stakeholders has been an essential part of our efforts to secure B Corp certification. This certification is a way to help us to accelerate change and reimagine our business model.
Together, Let’s act now for the responsible gastronomy of tomorrow
