Valrhona joined B Corp with the aim of moving towards a fairer and more sustainable model. We take a stand on societal and environmental issues such as the fight against global warming and the reduction of our carbon footprint
This 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.
Our "living income" approach to ensure a fair income for cocoa farmers, and the community support projects that we have been running for many years, such as school construction, access to drinking water and more.
having reduced our carbon footprint at our Tain l'Hermitage chocolate factory by 57% since 2013
including a 55% proportion of women employees and our status as a Great Place to Work since 2012
which puts at the heart of our raison d'être our actions for a fair and sustainable cocoa industryand push the boundaries of the gastronomy industry toward more responsible practices.
This certification is an opportunity for us to accelerate our roadmap to rethink our business model.
Carbon neutrality: reducing the environmental footprint of our chocolate factory as much as possible is a first step, but we must go further. By the end of 2025, we want our entire value chain, from the plantation to the plate, to become carbon neutral. To make this as meaningful as possible, we are opting for insetting* within our supply chain by involving our producer organizations, for example, through reforestation or forest protection actions.
The fact that we buy cocoa from the four corners of the planet, process it in France before sending it back out across the world, poses a real challenge for reducing our carbon footprint. Even though we receive all our cocoa by ship, which causes less pollution than other forms of transport, we must also reduce the impact of the transport of our finished products. This means cutting airfreight down to a bare minimum, as well as rethinking where we produce our chocolate, for example by creating new chocolate factories closer to our clients. This future challenge is one we are ready to tackle head on.
We have reduced the weight of our chocolate packaging by 30%, but we have not yet found a recyclable material that properly preserves the quality of our chocolate. We are actively working with our suppliers to find a material that is sustainable and responsible while maintaining the flavor and consistency of our products. However, our vision for tomorrow goes beyond sustainable packaging. Our long-term goal is to develop a system for delivering our chocolate with minimal to no packaging. In 2020-2021, we are launching a test in France to deliver products to our customers in washable, reusable bins. This test will allow us to develop best practices that address the issues of scalability and eliminating health risks.
We believe in agroforestry, a model of cocoa cultivation that respects the integrity of the soil by mixing different tree species and allows producers to diversify their income by cultivating varied crops. We are currently testing the model in the Dominican Republic through the Cacao Forest Project, and we have planted agroforestry plots in Haiti and Madagascar. But we don’t stop there – we work hand in hand with our cocoa partners to transform the plots. We aim to assist 100% of our 18,208 producers in the transition to agroforestry practices by 2025. While it’s a great undertaking, we are convinced that agroecology is the future of cocoa.
We know the power of our community at Valrhona. By teaching and empowering our customers to adopt responsible practices, such as sourcing local, sustainable ingredients, we will be able to push the envelope of gastronomy alongside them! In the coming months, we hope to involve them even more by offering tools and training to enable them to launch their own initiatives.
The diversity of voices, cultures and origins is a factor for success in an increasingly uncertain and volatile world. Strengthening our diversity policy, as part of hiring and career development practices, is a key area that we are committed to improving throughout the company.
There is still a long way to go, but we are convinced that companies like ours have an essential role to play in rethinking tomorrow's world. Valrhona will not succeed alone. It is together with our fellow B Corporations that we will really move the needle. Do you have any solutions to help us move these issues forward? Don’t hesitate to contact us at Rse@valrhona.fr.
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