Josef Zotter: „Chocolate can leave a very bitter aftertaste if you consider that cocoa growers work under severe conditions while others profit from the fruits of their labour. That’s why we support fair trade – not because we want to use a showcase product to raise our profile, but because we are convinced that it’s the right choice for our entire product range.“

Global issues affect local production. Cocoa and cane sugar, two of the essential ingredients for making chocolate, cannot be grown in the fields outside the Zotter chocolate factory. That’s why Zotter sources fairly traded ingredients from certified organic production. Since 2001 Zotter has paid regular visits to the cocoa growing regions. For him, quality is paramount from bean to bar. He only buys high-quality cocoa from selected growing cooperatives in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize, Dominican Republic, Congo, Togo and Madagascar.

NEW FAIR LOGO

We are 100% organic and fair trade as well as bean to bar and we apply our new FAIR hand sign. We are a member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). The WFTO will audit our entire business according to its fair-trade guidelines. 100% fair trade, without mass balance supply chain application, which we think is less than ideal.

Josef Zotter: “In my opinion, the FAIRTRADE certification is generally a good idea and certainly better than no oversight at all, but I want my customers to be able to buy chocolate and know that it contains exactly what it says on the wrapper.”

New paths: our commitment to fair trade and transparency

The new chocolate season is starting – and we are walking down new paths of development. We are evolving in line with our strong and exclusive commitment to fair-trade practices, which are only possible through full transparency. Farmers have to be compensated fairly for their hard work so that customers at the other end of the production and supply chain can enjoy the fruits of their labor with a clear conscience.

But that’s not enough – the chocolate also has to offer a flavor superior to garden-variety alternatives, otherwise there is no sustainable incentive at all for more responsible consumer behavior. This is why getting to know the source and producer of any given ingredient is an absolute priority to Zotter in his quest to foster excellent direct trade relations. We are proud of the fact that our partners know exactly who they work for. This nurtures mutual trust and opens doors to the most exclusive and superior raw materials. A win-win situation for everyone from farmer to customer. However, this is only the case with physical traceability and not with mass balance.

Mass balance: how it works and why we don’t need it

The goal is, of course, for every single product on earth to be traded fairly, which is why FAIRTRADE is accessing ever bigger markets to make fair-trade products more accessible to consumers. This is great in principle. However, this process necessitates compromise and this leads us to the mass balance supply chain model. It means, in a nutshell, that the general amount of ingredients needed for any given fair-trade product have to show a fair-trade certification, but that doesn’t mean they are IN the actual end product, as it is allowed to mix them during processing. Here’s an example: a chocolate producer buys fair-trade cocoa for 10 bars of chocolate and conventional, uncertified cocoa for 90 bars. The cocoa is mixed, 100 bars are produced. 10 of those bars carry the FAIRTRADE logo, even though, in theory, each of the 100 bars could contain 10% fair-trade and 90% uncertified cocoa beans. We don’t approve of this method. We are a quality chocolate producer with a focus on transparency, and this is anything but. We believe that customers who buy fair-trade products and are willing to pay a higher price for them should get a guarantee that those products contain fair-trade ingredients. Mass-balanced products usually carry a disclaimer but that’s not enough for us. We want to offer clarity and transparency to our customers and therefore enforce physical traceability, which allows us to guarantee that it is in it, what’s stated on the packaging.

Difference between mass balance and 100% fair trade with physical traceability

mass-balancing-physical-traceability

New Fair hand sign: fair and direct trade, just like the FAIRTRADE movement used to be

Our entire business is Fair Trade verified. We are a member of WFTO – the World Fair Trade Organization, which is the umbrella organization for global fair trade. The WFTO monitors business compliance with the 10 principles of fair trade like transparency, respect for the environment, the payment of fair prices and no use of child labor among others. We use our own FAIR logo because we take a step beyond those directives. We want to give our customers the absolute assurance that we pay the world market price many times over, that we can guarantee the highest quality of our raw materials, buy directly from our suppliers and also ensure complete physical traceability. This means our products contain 100% fairly traded, high-quality ingredients.

Entirely fair according to the World Fair Trade Organization’s (WFTO) basic principles

Our unlimited commitment to fair-trade practices, to the WFTO and their principles are a given and are united in our new FAIR® hand sign as a logo. They reflect Zotter’s credibility and transparency. The WFTO is the only global network consisting of suppliers and producers along the entire fair-trade value-added chain, from production up to retail. The WFTO’s goal is to improve living conditions for disadvantaged producers and suppliers by giving them better market opportunities. At the same time, the WFTO is trying to influence the political landscape in order to attain a long-term improvement of global trading conditions. The WFTO guarantee is a monitoring system for its members, connecting internal and external supervision and oversight to raise the transparency and credibility factor for fair-trade organisations.

The WFTO system consists of several elements, an extensive self-assessment component plus external auditing. To enhance the traceability factor, the WFTO has introduced the supply chain management branch in addition to its 10 basic principles. Within the supply chain management, each member organisation is obligated to create its own internal monitoring system for all suppliers and producers from those disadvantaged geographical regions of the south that do not have a WFTO-recognised oversight system already in place (i.e. Fairtrade International, Naturland Fair etc.). This ensures that the 10 principles are adhered to by every one of these agents. The WFTO audits entire corporations, not just individual products, which means a member company adheres entirely and 100% to fair-trade standards, from top to bottom.

The monitoring system is based on the WFTO’s 10 fair trade standards

  • Principle 1: the creation of opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers
  • Principle 2: transparency and responsibility
  • Principle 3: fair-trade practices
  • Principle 4: fair wages and prices
  • Principle 5: a guarantee that no child labour or enforced labour is used
  • Principle 6: a commitment to equality, a right to unions and to combat discrimination
  • Principle 7: a guarantee of good working conditions
  • Principle 8: the promotion of advanced training and competence
  • Principle 9: the promotion of fair trade practices
  • Principle 10: a commitment to act in an environmentally conscious manner

Fairness, fair prices and respect

Zotter cultivates very warm and close working relationships with his cocoa farmers. We know that top quality has its price, therefore we pay sums way above the global market rate. These are not handouts. Instead, we proactively support the autonomous development of our partners. We all want to be able to afford a good life through our hard work, so they should be able to as well. We don’t act like unapproachable, superior buyers, but are equal business partners. Zotter also enthusiastically collaborates on social projects that improve harvest quality, optimize production, foster and safeguard the cultivation of rare fine flavor cocoa varieties like the Criollo and help make the cocoa bean farmers’ living conditions better in the long term. The way for these small farmers to compete with mass products on the global market, is to assert quality. With projects like “Quality not Poverty” in Nicaragua, “Cocoa not Cocaine” in Colombia and “Chocolate for School” in Uganda, Zotter is also actively championing development aid projects.

Josef Zotter: “As a cocoa-processing business, we are responsible for the working and living conditions of our farmers in the south. Fair trade practices represent life-changing opportunities for small farmers and plantation workers in those cocoa bean-producing countries. They are able to emancipate themselves from vacillating global market prices and create a self-determined and secure existence without child labour and environmental exploitation.” 

For more on this, go to www.wfto.com

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*All our products containing dairy don’t carry the USDA Organic Seal anymore, as there is an exemption in the organic equivalency agreement between the U.S. and the EU when it comes to the use of antibiotics. While in the US an animal which has been treated with antibiotics cannot be used in the production ever again, the EU allows a certain wait time until the animal can be used again for the production of dairy. It still means our products are 100% organic certified in the EU, but they are not in the US. All our vegan, dairy free products are also 100% USDA organic certified. Each product page has more detailed information on the ingredients tab.