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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.
2023 results
100% of executives
have a Corporate social responsibility (CSR) objective: that's 31.1% of all employees, including sales representatives. Target: 100% by 2025.
965 employees
including 480 women & 485 men
84.53% of suppliers
have signed our responsible purchasing charter. Target: 100% by 2025.
349,171€ donated
over the year
52% of employees
say that Valrhona is a good place to work
24 accidents
resulting in time off work
Oqo 73%, a unique sensory experience
In 2023, Valrhona unveiled OQO. A dark couverture with a novel texture, made from whole, unshelled cocoa beans, offering a new perspective on the use of cocoa shells. OQO’s innovation lies in several key aspects:
- How it’s made. By passing traditional conching, OQO is obtained by coarse grinding which preserves the particular texture of each ingredient.
- A minimalist formula. Made from just three ingredients: whole cocoa beans, cocoa butter and beet sugar.
- The result of a cross-disciplinary collaboration. The fruit of teamwork involving experts from a wide range of backgrounds: from research and development to production, not forgetting L’École Valrhona’s chefs.
This innovative product offers customers a unique sensory experience thanks to its naturally crunchy texture, created by the presence of fine particles of shell, cocoa nibs, and sugar grain.
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.
