Neuhaus has signed up to a Belgian chocolate industry initiative, the Beyond Chocolate Charter. Its mission is to combine and organise efforts among sector players to achieve sustainability in the production of chocolate.
The industry-wide commitment aims to tackle child labour, combat deforestation and ensure a viable income for local cocoa producers.
The Beyond Chocolate Charter has specific targets including that by 2025, all chocolate made or sold in Belgium must meet established certification standards or be produced according to internal sustainability programmes.
Further, the initiative pledges that by 2030, all local cocoa growers must receive a living income, and the Belgian chocolate sector must no longer play any part in global deforestation.
The brand – which currently uses 100% UTZ-certified cocoa and has committed to 100% sustainable and traceable cocoa by 2025 – is applying these broad sustainability principles to its own plantation in Ecuador, where 36% of all the cocoa beans it uses are produced.
On the packaging front, the majority of the material used for Neuhaus chocolate coverings is already made from recyclable paper and cardboard. The company said it is committed to a sustainable alternative form of packaging (to be in place before the end of 2021), and the reduction in single-use plastic by replacing plastic inner layers with R-PET (2022).
Neuhaus also notes that all of the ingredients it uses come from natural sources. Its products feature reduced sugar content and no palm oil or genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Neuhaus CEO Ignace Van Doorselaere said: “By signing the Beyond Chocolate Charter, Neuhaus commits to going the extra mile to achieving and even exceeding the goals of the Beyond Chocolate partnership. Neuhaus chocolate has been 100% UTZ certified for several years. As of 2025, cocoa production will also be 100% traceable and meet living income and deforestation norms.”
