Collection: Privacy Policy

Protecting your privacy is a commitment for. This privacy policy (the “Policy”) describes how Valrhona, Inc. (“Valrhona”, “we”, “us” and “our”) collect, use, and share your Personal Information (defined below), including information provided by you through https://www.valrhona-collection.us, https://www.valrhona.us/, the Valrhona mobile app (collectively, the “website”), at our retail stores, conferences, on-site events, and/or our pastry and chocolate school, and through other Valrhona platforms in the USA.

By visiting our website, signing up for a class, booking or attending an event, submitting information, and/or purchasing any products, you agree to let us collect and use your Personal Information as described in this Policy. Therefore, before you provide us with any Personal Information, you should read through this Policy in its entirety and understand its terms.

We may modify or update this Policy from time to time. We encourage you to revisit this page often to remain fully informed of our Policy or you can contact us at any time to obtain the latest copy of this Policy.

This Policy describes:

• Personal Information We Collect;
• How We Collect Your Personal Information;
• How We Use Your Personal Information;
• How We Disclose Your Personal Information;
• How We Protect Your Personal Information;
• Ability to Access, Update and Correct Personal Information;
• California Privacy Rights;
• Other State Privacy Rights;
• Exercising Your Privacy Rights; 
• Changes to the Policy;
• Questions About This Policy.

Personal Information We Collect

Valrhona collects information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to any individual or a household (“Personal Information”). Valrhona also collects non-Personal Information that cannot be linked or associated with any individual person or household. When non-Personal Information is combined with other information so that it does identify an individual person, we treat that combination as Personal Information. We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of Personal Information about you, which we have grouped together as follows:

• Identifiers such as your first name, last name, alias, username or similar unique personal identifier, account name, online identifier, and/or date of birth.
• Contact Information such as your billing address, delivery address, email address, social media information, and telephone numbers.
• Financial Information such as credit or debit card information, payment details, or other payment information.
• Profile Data such as user name, password, country, language preference, preferred distributor, customer status, event attendance history.
• Professional or Employment-related Information such as a resume or cv
• Internet and Other Electronic Network Activity Information such as internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access our website and other Valrhona platforms.
• Commercial Information details about the products you have purchased, payments you have made, and/or other details of products and services you have purchased from us in the past, purchase or product preferences, personal interests, feedback, reviews, and survey responses.
• Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, such as age or gender.
• Usage Data includes information about how you use our website and services, such as statistics regarding the opening and clicking on emails sent by Valrhona, and activity on the site (pages viewed, products seen, abandoned baskets, etc.).
• Marketing and Communications Information such as marketing campaign data, click-throughs, your preferences and consent in receiving marketing from us and our third parties, email and text communications, and your communication preferences.
• Audio and Visual Information such as photographs or video recordings.
• Geolocation Information such as the approximate location information associated with your IP address.
• Inference Data including inferences drawn from the Personal Information identified above.

If You Do Not Provide Personal Information

Where we need to collect Personal Information by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you do not provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with products or services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

Information You Provide To A Third Party

The website may include links, plug-ins to websites operated by third parties such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram as well as embedded videos hosted on third party sites such as YouTube (“Third-Party Sites”). Valrhona does not control any Third-Party Sites and is not responsible for any information they may collect. The information collection practices of a Third-Party Site are governed by its privacy policy. It is your choice to enter any Third-Party Site. We recommend that you read its privacy policy if you choose to do so.

Children’s Privacy

The website and other Valrhona platforms are intended for adult use only and are not directed towards children, minors, or anyone under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 13, you are not authorized to provide us with any Personal Information. If the parent or guardian of a child under 13 believes that the child has provided us with any Personal Information, the parent or guardian of that child should contact us at valrhonachocolate-compliance.@savencia.com to have this Personal Information deleted from our files.

Retention

For each of these categories of Personal Information, we will retain the information as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected, to comply with applicable laws and regulations, and/or to support any claim, defense, or declaration in a case or before a jurisdictional and/or administrative authority, arbitration, or mediation panel.

 

How We Collect Your Personal Information

Information You Provide To Us:

Valrhona may collect Personal Information from you that you voluntarily provide to us in various ways, including, but not limited to:

• Create an account with us
• Place an order or purchase products from us or otherwise use our website and other Valrhona platforms
• Call, email, text, or otherwise communicate with us
• Register and attend an event, class, or webinar
• Book an event at L’École Valrhona Brooklyn
• Sign up to receive newsletters
• Sign up for rewards programs
• Respond to surveys or marketing emails
• Write a review
• Otherwise interact with the website or other Valrhona platforms

Valrhona or a partner may sponsor promotions, sweepstakes or contests. Your participation is entirely voluntary. You may be asked to provide Personally Information including, but not limited to, your name, email address or home address or to answer questions in order to participate. By participating in such promotions, sweepstakes or contests, you agree to our use of this Personal Information to inform you about our products, services, updates, and promotional offers.

Information We Collect When You Use Our Services

Automated technologies or interactions.

As is true of most websites, we receive and store certain types of Personal Information whenever you interact with us online. This information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. When you use our app and/or access and use our website and platforms from your mobile devices, we receive data from that mobile device. This may include your device ID, location data, IP address and device type. You may manage how your mobile device and mobile browser share location information with us, as well as how your mobile browser handles cookies and related technologies by adjusting your mobile device privacy and security settings. Please refer to instructions provided by your mobile service provider or the manufacturer of your device to learn how to adjust your settings.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies.

We and our service providers use cookies, pixels, and other tracking technology to recognize your browser or device and to capture and remember certain information about your activities on our website. For example, cookies gather information about how long you spend on a web page so that we can understand what web pages are of interest to users. If you prefer, you can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off cookies by adjusting your browser settings. If you turn off your cookies, some of the features of the website may not function properly.

Information We Collect From Third Parties

We collect Personal Information from various third parties, including those listed below. The collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information received from third parties is governed by the privacy policies listed on the website where the information was submitted by the user. Third parties may send their own cookies and pixel tags to you, and may collect information and use it in a way inconsistent with this Policy. Please carefully review these third-party privacy policies to understand how your information may be collected, used and disclosed by these third parties.

Third Party Service Providers

We collect Personal Information from service providers including payment processors, fulfillment centers, shipping providers, email service providers, product review platforms, website hosting platforms, online webinar platforms, and social media platforms.

Social Media Sites

When you create an account using your Facebook, Google, or Twitter login or link your Valrhona account to Facebook, Google, or Twitter, we receive Personal Information from those third party social media sites, which may include your public profile information and email.

Third Party Advertising Partners

We collect Personal Information received from third party advertising partners, including partners who host and manage various online advertisements and ad platforms. This may be combined with the website analytics data described below.

Third Party Retail Partners

We collect Personal Information received from third party retail partners to facilitate the sale and shipment of our products through online stores.

Google Analytics

We use third party cookies provided by Google Analytics to assist us in better understanding our website visitors. These cookies collect IP address and usage data, such as the length of time a user spends on a page, the pages a user visits, and the websites a user visits before and after visiting our website. Based on this information, Google Analytics compiles data about website traffic and interactions, which we use to offer better user experiences and tools in the future. For information on how to opt-out from Google Analytics, visit tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Your ‘Do Not Track’ Browser Setting

Some web browsers incorporate a Do Not Track (“DNT”) feature that signals to the websites that you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. At this time, our website does not respond to DNT signals. Other third party websites may keep track of your browsing activities when they provide you with content, which enables them to customize what they present to you on their websites.

How We Use Your Personal Information

Purposes For Which We Will Use Your Personal Information

Our primary purpose in collecting Personal Information is to provide you the products and services that you have ordered or requested with a safe, smooth, efficient, and customized experience. We may also use your Personal Information for the following business purposes:

• Collect and process payments and complete transactions.
• Provide the products, services, and customer support you request.
• Verify your identity and account information in connection with products or services you request.
• Provide you with recommendations for products and services that we believe would be of interest to you.
• Verify your credit balance and payment history to qualify credit worthiness, manage credit risk, and comply with IRS regulations.
• Provide you with our newsletter if you have subscribed to it.
• Assist you with setting up and managing your customer account with us.
• Ensure qualifications are satisfied for Cercle V loyalty program registration.
• Facilitate sweepstakes, promotions and contests. 
• Resolve disputes.
• Troubleshoot problems and support.
• Enforce our General Terms and Conditions. Sweepstakes Rules, and the terms of this Policy.
• Customize, measure and improve our services and content.
• Inform you about our products, services, updates and promotional offers.
• To customize the advertising and content you see.
• To protect our data as well as your Personal Information.
• To protect our interests, including establishing, exercising and defending legal rights and claims.
• As necessary to comply with legal requirements, to prevent fraud, to co-operate with law enforcement and regulatory authorities, and to stop other prohibited, illegal, or harmful activities.
• For purposes disclosed at the time you provide/we request your Personal Information or as otherwise set forth in this Policy.

How We Disclose Your Personal Information 

We disclose your Personal Information with third parties only in the ways that are described in this Policy and with our business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors in order to provide you with our goods and services and perform any contract we enter into with them or you.

Information You Instruct Us to Share

You may be presented with an option on our website to have us send certain information to third parties or give them access to it. If you choose to do so, your Personal Information and other information may be disclosed to such third parties and all information you disclose will be subject to the third-party privacy policies and practices of such third parties.

User Disclosures

Some Personal Information is disclosed as a matter of course as a result of your use of the website. For example, if you choose to review a product. Any Personal Information shared via any public forum on our website will become public information.

Service Providers

We may use third-party service providers to perform certain business services and may disclose Personal Information to such service providers as needed for them to perform these business services. Service providers are only allowed to use, disclose or retain the Personal Information to provide these services and are prohibited from selling Personal Information. Business services provided include, but are not limited to, hosting services, communications services, website development services, collection services, payment processing services, accounting and audit services, fulfillment and shipping services, compliance services, quality control services, analytics services, survey and review services, call center services, and advertising/marketing services.

The information collected on our https://www.valrhona-collection.us/ website is hosted by Shopify. Shopify is a hosting provider established in Canada. Shopify has settled its own data protection standards that you can access and benefit from here.

We use the Google reCAPTCHA tool to protect our website from various types of abusive processing attempts. In order for this tool to work, reCAPTCHA analyzes various information that it collects from each visitor, which may include the IP address, mouse movements, length of stay, and other information gathered by Google. By using reCAPTCHA, this data is sent to Google and used to determine whether the visitor is a natural person or an abusive automated program (e.g., bot). You can find more information about reCAPTCHA at https://www.google.com/recaptcha. All information captured by the Google reCAPTCHA tool is subject to Google’s Terms and Privacy Policy.

Internal Third Parties

We may share Personal Information with our parent company, subsidiaries, successors, assigns, licensees, affiliates, or business partners and others, including where disclosure of your Personal Information is needed to protect the employees, independent contractors, officers, directors, members, users, or shareholders of Valrhona who may use the Personal Information for the purposes described above.

Categories of Personal Information that have been disclosed for a business purpose with service providers and internal third parties in the past twelve months include:

• Identifiers
• Contact Information
• Financial Information
• Profile Data
• Professional or Employment-related Information
• Internet and Other Electronic Network Activity Information
• Commercial Information
• Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law
• Usage Data
• Marketing and Communications Information
• Audio and Visual Information
• Geolocation Information
• Inference Data

Business Transactions

We may do business with third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your Personal Information in the same way as set out in this Policy.

Legal Process

Subject to applicable law, we may disclose information about you (i) if we are required to do so by law, regulation or legal process, such as a subpoena; (ii) in response to requests by government entities, such as law enforcement authorities; (iii) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical, financial or other harm, injury or loss; or (iv) in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual unlawful activity.

Personal Information Sold or Shared

We have not sold any Personal Information in the past twelve months. We have shared Personal Information in the past twelve months with our third party advertising partners to serve ads to you about our products and services as you browse the Internet. “Sharing” is defined under California privacy law as “renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or otherwise communicating orally, in writing, or by electronic or other means, a consumer’s Personal Information by the business to a third party for cross-context behavioral advertising, whether or not for monetary or other valuable consideration, including transactions between a business and a third party for cross-context behavioral advertising for the benefit of a business in which no money is exchanged.” This sharing means that these third-party service providers may use their own cookies or tags to track your online activities and purchases in order to deliver targeted advertising based on your interests. You can opt of sharing through the Do Not Share My Personal Information. Additionally, if your browser supports it, you can turn on the Global Privacy Control (GPC) to opt-out of the “sharing” of your Personal Information. Learn more at the Global Privacy Control website. Valrhona has no actual knowledge of any sales or sharing of Personal Information of minors under 16 years of age.

Communications and Opt Out

By establishing an account, making a purchase, or registering to receive the Valrhona Newsletter, you may consent to receive periodic commercial/promotional email communications from us. You may opt-out of receiving such promotional communications at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions in a promotional email or by emailing us at info@valrhona-chocolate.com. This opt-out will not apply to operational or informational emails related to your account and purchases. You may continue to receive promotional email messages for a short period while we process your request.

How We Protect Your Personal Information

Valrhona transmits information via industry standard secure server (SSL). This SSL creates the secure and encrypted https:// website address for our important pages like My Cart and the Checkout area. When you see the https:// website address, you know the information you are inputting is protected and secure. We also comply with payment card industry data security standards that require merchants to implement security measures for credit card information. We never have access to your credit card information, as it is tokenized following PCI-compliant standards.

While we endeavor to incorporate reasonable safeguards to help protect and secure your Personal Information, no data transmission over the Internet, mobile networks, wireless transmission or electronic storage of information can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. It may be possible for third parties to intercept or access transmissions or private communications unlawfully. Any such transmission is done at your own risk.

Ability to Access, Update and Correct Personal Information

Valrhona wants your Personal Information to be complete and accurate. You represent and warrant that all information you provide in connection with your use of the website will be complete and accurate, and that you will update that information as necessary to maintain its completeness and accuracy. To confirm the completeness and accuracy of, or make changes to, your Personal Information, please contact us at info@valrhona-chocolate.com or by changing your profile settings on our website.

California Privacy Rights

California Consumer Privacy Act

The California Consumer Privacy Act as amended (“CCPA”) provides consumers who are California residents with specific rights regarding their Personal Information. This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.

Right to Know

Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request as described below, you have the right to request, no more than twice in any 12-month period, that we disclose what Personal Information we have collected about you in the immediately preceding 12-month period, including, the categories of Personal Information we collected about you; the categories of the sources from which the Personal Information is collected; our business or commercial purpose(s) for collecting, selling or sharing that Personal Information; the categories of third parties to whom we disclosed that Personal Information; and the specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you.

In addition, if we sold or disclosed your Personal Information for a business or commercial purpose, we will provide you with two separate lists disclosing:

• Disclosures for a business purpose, identifying the Personal Information categories disclosed that each category of recipient obtained;
• Sales and/or disclosures for a commercial purpose, identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient obtained.

Consumer Rights

Right to Delete.

You have the right to request that we delete any or all of your Personal Information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your Personal Information from our records, unless an exception applies.

Right to Correct.

You have the right to correct inaccurate Personal Information that we maintain about you.

Right to Opt-Out of the Sale/ Sharing.

You have the right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your Personal Information. We do not sell your Personal Information.

Right to Limit the Use or Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information.

You have the right to request that we limit the use and disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information to specific business purposes approved by the CCPA. We do not process Sensitive Personal Information.

Right to Non-Discrimination.

You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, if you exercise any of your California rights, we will not:

• Deny you goods or services.
• Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
• Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services.
• Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

Exceptions

These rights are not absolute and are subject to certain exceptions. For example, we cannot disclose or permit access to specific pieces of Personal Information if granting your request would present a certain level of risk to the security of the Personal Information at issue, your account with us or the security of our Sites. We may deny your deletion request if retaining the Personal Information is necessary for us or our service providers and/or contractors to:

Reasons for Retention

• Complete the transaction for which we collected the Personal Information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you
• Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities
• Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality
• Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law
• Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 seq.)
• Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information's deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research's achievement, if you previously provided informed consent
• Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us
• Comply with a legal obligation
• Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it

Other California Privacy Rights

California residents have the right to receive information that identifies any third-party companies or individuals that YSI has shared your Personal Information with in the previous calendar year, as well as a description of the categories of Personal Information disclosed to that third party. You may obtain this information once a year and free of charge by contacting us at the address below.

Other State Privacy Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction of residence, you have certain rights with respect to your personal information. This section describes your privacy rights and explains how to exercise those rights.

• Right of Access: You have the right to confirm whether we are processing your Personal Information and to access such Personal Information we process. You may exercise this right not more than two times per calendar year.
• Right to Correct: You have the right to correct inaccurate personal information that we maintain about you, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
• Right to Delete: You have the right to request that we delete Personal Information that we collected about you under certain circumstances. Please note, that some information may not be eligible for deletion based upon applicable law or requirements of contracts.
• Right to Portability: You have the right, to the extent the data is available in a digital format, to obtain a copy of your Personal Information in a portable, and to the extent technically feasible, readily usable format that allows you to transmit the data to another controller without hindrance. You may exercise this right not more than two times per calendar year.
• Right to Opt-Out: You have the right to opt out of processing Personal Information for the purposes of:
  • Targeted advertising,
  • The sale of Personal Information, or
  • Profiling in furtherance of a decision that produces a legal or similarly significant effect.
  We do not sell Personal Information or engage in profiling.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your Personal Information. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: Unless permitted by applicable law, we will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights under applicable law.
• Right to Appeal: You have the right to appeal any decision that includes a refusal to take action on a request. If applicable, you can file an appeal by responding to the email with our decision within fifteen (15) calendar days.

Exercising Your Privacy Rights

Requests to know or delete can be submitted by calling our toll-free number +1 800 322 2743 or by clicking here. You can opt out of having your Personal Information shared to third parties for targeted marketing by clicking on the Do Not Share My Personal Information. Additionally, if your browser supports it, you can turn on the Global Privacy Control (GPC) to opt-out of the sharing of your Personal Information for targeted online advertising. You can learn more about the GPC and how to enable it in your browser from the Global Privacy Control website.

Please note that these rights currently apply only to California, Nebraska and Texas consumers. Only you or a person that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your Personal Information.

Authorizing an Agent to Act on Your Behalf

Where applicable and except where you have provided an agent with a Power of Attorney pursuant to Sections 4000 – 4465 of the California Probate Code, when using an authorized agent you must provide that person with written permission clearly describing their authority to make a request on your behalf. That agent must also be able to verify their identity with us and provide us with their authority to act on your behalf. An individual to whom you have provided Power of Attorney pursuant to applicable state rules may also make a request on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorized agent if the agent does not provide us with the signed written permission demonstrating that they have been authorized to act on your behalf.

Verifying Your Request

The verifiable consumer request initiated by you or your authorized agent must:

• Include your full legal name, email and phone number, which we will need to contact you in order to verify that you are the person about whom we collected Personal Information or an authorized representative
• Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.
• If you are making the request as an authorized agent you must also provide; the full legal name of the party for which you are making the request and documentation for which your authorization is based.

Response Timing and Format

We cannot respond to your request or provide you with your Personal Information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the Personal Information relates to you. Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us. One of our representatives will contact you in order to verify your identity. You may need to provide additional information in order to verify your request. We will only use Personal Information provided in a verifiable consumer request to verify the requestor's identity or authority to make the request.

Response Time and Process

Response Timing and Format

We endeavor to respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to ninety (90) days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. We will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable.

We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

Changes to This Privacy Notice

Valrhona may modify or update this Policy from time to time. We encourage you to revisit this page often to remain fully informed of our Policy or you can contact us at any time to obtain the latest copy of this Policy.

Questions About This Policy

For questions or comments regarding our Policy, you can also email us at valrhonachocolate-compliance@savencia.com   or write to us at:

Valrhona, Inc.
Attn: Director of Customer Service
222 Water Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Effective January 1, 2025

Last Update: January 1, 2025