Building a Sustainable Future: Reducing Our Carbon Footprint and Protecting Resources

We are working to reduce our carbon footprint and act every day to limit the impact of our activities on the environment as much as possible. We use resources that are not infinite (water, energy, soil) and we must reduce their exploitation as much as possible. The objective is to build a resilient and regenerative company, having a positive impact on its territories.

CHAPTER 1
Reducing our carbon footprint at every step
CHAPTER 2
Better manage our resources and reduce waste
CHAPTER 3
Reducing our impact on the environment at our production sites

1 3

CHAPTER 1

Reduce packaging and choose recycled, recyclable or reusable alternatives

Why is it important?

Because CO2 is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and it is urgent to drastically reduce emissions of these gases.

Favor means of transport that emit the least CO2

Thanks to the actions included in the FRET21 approach, Valrhona (which manages the shipping of all products to the US from Tain l'Hermitage, France) has avoided emitting more than 515 tons of CO2 in 2022.

We are continually testing new modes of transport to reduce our emissions:

Sailing : In 2023, Valrhona and Norohy invested in decarbonized maritime transport with WindCoop. 321,000 USD are being invested in the construction of a cargo sailboat, whose ambition is to transport 100% of Madagascar's cocoa and vanilla to the port of Marseille, France, by 2026.
As an alternative to carbon-based road transport: rapeseed traction.
Minimizing the carbon footprint on the last mile. Delivery by electric vehicles or bicycles is being tested on the French market.

"These projects are first tested on a small scale. But they aim to be deployed on larger areas if they have positive impacts."

Guillaume Sempere, Transport Coordinator.

Reduce CO2 emissions from production sites

In 2022, thanks to the work of Valrhona teams, greenhouse gas emissions from Valrhona production sites have decreased by 67% since 2013 (scope 1 and 2).

CHAPTER 2

Better manage our resources and reduce waste

Reduce packaging and choose recycled, recyclable or reusable alternatives

Why is it important?

Reducing packaging uses fewer resources and generates less waste and plastic pollution.

Tailor-Made

Since 2022, a new automated line creates a personalized packaging box based on the products ordered. We thus reduce the quantity of cardboard consumed by 20% .

Eco-Design of Packaging

What is eco-design? It consists of integrating environmental protection from the design of goods. Its objective is to reduce the environmental impacts of products throughout their life cycle.

The Valrhona Gifting range: doing better with less. The entire range of chocolate boxes and bars was redesigned in 2022, in an eco-design approach . The result? 4 tons of cardboard and 10 tons of plastic less per year.

"La Consigne" by Valrhona, or Reuse

Driven by a zero waste objective, the "Consigne" is the name of Valrhona's ambitious project to reinvent packaging management for its professional customers, on the French market. In 2022, 22 tons of chocolate have been sold since its launch in 2020. This represents 870 kg of waste avoided (not eliminated because reused) and 1 TCO2 avoided.

Improving the management of resources at our production sites

Why is it important?

Because the overexploitation of natural resources contributes to the erosion of biodiversity and weakens the ecosystems in which we live.

Concrete examples:

Organic Agriculture:
71% renewable energy in the energy mix of Valrhona production sites.
Reduction of water consumption at Valrhona production sites. In 2022, consumption of city water has been reduced by 40% since 2013 and by 67% for drilling water.

CHAPTER 3

Reducing the environmental impact on our production

The environment on our production sites

Why is it important?

Taking environmental issues into account means ensuring the sustainability of our operations by avoiding, reducing and compensating for negative impacts on our environment.

With employees who are sensitive to environmental issues, many of our Maisons' industrial sites have implemented actions that contribute to limiting our local impact on the environment. For example, the Valrhona sites in Tain l'Hermitage, France, are ISO 14001 certified, a certification that defines the requirements of the environmental management system.

However, we still need to make progress in assessing our current impact and identifying areas with high biodiversity potential, in order to define clear action plans towards industrial sites that actively contribute to the creation of biodiversity.

In 2023, an ecological audit on the Valrhona site in Tain l'Hermitage, France, made it possible to obtain a floristic and faunal diagnosis as well as recommendations for improvement around an ecological management plan to identify and implement best practices.