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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.
349K€ donated
by Valrhona over the year
52% of employees
say that Valrhona is a good place to work
24 accidents
resulting in time off work
€349,171 in donations made by Valrhona in 2023
In 2023, Maison Valrhona donated €349,171 to various organizations committed to causes and issues that are close to our hearts:
- improving the living conditions of cocoa-producing communities with the solidarity fund Fonds Solidaire Valrhona
- promoting sustainable agricultural practices in our producing countries with the Terra Isara foundation
- commitment to more sustainable and inclusive gastronomy with the Fonds Solidaire Valrhona, the Fondation de France, the Paul Bocuse Foundation, the Endowment Fund for Sustainable Cuisine
- fighting climate change with the Business Convention for Climate Association and the GoodPlanet foundation
- inclusion, health, and support for vulnerable people with the medical ETS la Teppe, the Agir contre le Cancer ACC26 association, the Arcadia Association, and the Robert Ardouvin Foundation
- commitment to local entrepreneurship with the Arcade Enterprises Association and the Réseau entreprendre.
Through these donations, Valrhona supports projects that bring about change to build a sustainable business model with and for our stakeholders.
The Businesses for Climate Convention
In 2023, Valrhona joined the Lyon Area Businesses for Climate Convention (BCC), alongside 80 other regional companies. This collective movement aims to accelerate the shift towards a regenerative economy and develop regional resilience.
Éric Marchisio, FSP (Food Service Premium) Managing Director, and Carole Seignovert, CSR and Innovation FSP Director, followed this nine-month process through to the writing of a roadmap for the company’s future. Regional cooperative ventures have also sprung up, notably with Revol, La Fabuleuse Cantine, and Ligne Roset companies.
To get teams on board with this ambitious plan as quickly as possible, Valrhona organized its own Climate Convention for Valrhona employees, as well as for the Revol and Fabuleuse Cantine teams. This event, a powerful example of cooperation between local players, helped to place structural transformation at the heart of future strategic challenges.
Diversity and Inclusivity
First set up in 2020, the Disability Committee and its six officers are continuing their mission to support employees with disabilities.
With this aim in mind, the disability officers worked to promote Recognized Disabled Worker Status (or “RQTH” in French) among all our staff throughout 2023.
In 2023, the Disability committee will see an increase of more than 8 points in the number of employees recognized as RQTH
(Recognition of Status as a Worker with a Disability), i.e. 38 people. This figure is encouraging, because it demonstrates that employees feel more confident about sharing this information.
Employees, the driving force behind the company
As part of the Great Place To Work 2022 rating, employee satisfaction was reassessed in 2023 during a flash survey.
More than half of our employees consider Valrhona to be a good place to work. Among the results, we have identified areas for improvement and put in place a structural action plan based on 6 main priorities to improve indicators.
Valrhona has set up a tool enabling managers to anticipate risk factors and support their teams. More frequent, targeted surveys are organized to measure the impact of the actions implemented. The aim is to collect information on employees’ needs throughout the year and meet them as closely as possible, while adjusting actions accordingly. The 2023 flash survey assessed the impact of initiatives taken by local management. The results are very encouraging, proving that quality of life at work is essential to business performance. A new GPTW assessment is scheduled for 2025.
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
Oqo 73%
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
