Zotter Schokoladen Manufaktur
 | |
| Privately held company | |
| Industry | Chocolate production |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Josef Zotter |
| Headquarters | Riegersburg, Styria, Austria |
| Products | Chocolate |
| Revenue | € 20.5 Million (2016)[1] |
Number of employees | 180 (2017)[1] |
| Website |
www |
Zotter Schokoladen Manufaktur is a manufacturing company of organic and Fairtrade certified chocolates founded in 1999 by its owner Josef Zotter. The company headquarters is situated in the small village of Bergl near Riegersburg, a municipality in the district of Südoststeiermark in the Austrian state of Styria. Around 300 tonnes of cocoa beans and 150 tonnes of cocoa butter are turned into 600 tonnes of chocolate, served in the form of more than 400 varieties of chocolate, pralines, drinking chocolate and other types of chocolate.[1]
Zotter is a bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer[2] and therefore carrying out the whole chocolate production process within the company on-site: from the roasting of the cocoa beans on rollers to the grinding in the conche. Thus, Zotter is the only company in Europe that produces chocolate from bean to bar using nothing but organic and fairtrade quality.[2]
According to the book "Chocolate - the reference standard. The Chocolate Tester 2015" Zotter ranks among the world’s best chocolate producers. 550 brands from 70 countries and 4.000 products are tested by author Georg Bernardini, a confectioner himself and business consultant, for the reprint of the 919 pages sized book.[3]
History
In 1987 Josef Zotter and his wife Ulrike open the Zotter Konditorei confectionery in Graz, southern Austria. Zotter’s creative and extraordinary creations like the “Hemp Bar” and the “Funny Cake” gather international recognition. He expands and opens three more branches.
Zotter begins to produce chocolate in a back room of the confectionery in Graz in 1992. He creates hand-scooped chocolate with layered centres and a new 70g bar without the customary cubic break-off shape. Amongst others the first range of flavours included pumpkin, marzipan and dried fruit.
Two years later the Art Designer Andreas H. Gratze designs artful wrappings and creates extraordinary names for the chocolate bars.
In 1996 Zotter goes into administration and close 3 branches.
In 1998 a new product range of drinking chocolates in the shape of hand-scooped chocolate bars is introduced.
After that Zotter decides to only produce chocolate and opens the Zotter Chocolate Manufactory in 1999. The demand of Zotter’s chocolate increases and the manufactory is expanded.
In 2004 Zotter makes the entire range fair trade and cooperates with small farms and attaches importance to quality. Two years after the whole range is made organic.
The manufactory is converted into a bean-to-bar production house by Josef Zotter in 2007. Furthermore, he launches the Chocolate Theatre where visitors can experience the production of chocolate from beginning to end. The first chocolate bar created at his bean-to-bar manufactory was a pure chocolate bar called Labooko.
In 2011 the Edible Zoo opens. The Edible Zoo is an open air section of the Chocolate Theatre. It is an organic farm, where animals and plants were treated with affection and respect.
In 2015 Zotter ranks among the world’s best 25 chocolate producers from 70 countries. In 2016 two gold, eight silver and five bronze medals are awarded to Zotter chocolates.[1]
Philosophy
Zotter chocolates are known for quality, variety, creativity and sustainability. At the chocolate manufacture there are produced 365 different chocolates with individual taste. Because of the in-house chocolate production from bean-to-bar and the high quality of the ingredients Josef Zotter ranks among the best chocolatiers in the world.
There are lots of creative varieties like cheese chocolate, fish chocolate or wine chocolate. The unique design of the chocolate wrappings created by Andreas h. Gratze stands for creativity. All of the Zotter products are organic and fair-trade. They think the quality begins with the material and so they work together with small farmers and invite them to the manufacture.[4]
Brands and products
- Hand-scooped: chocolate bars filled with different ingredients
- Labooko: origin chocolates from different places in the world
- Mitzi Blue: a round chocolate with fanciful braking patterns
- Customized Choco: individual chocolate with different shapes and flavours
- Nougsus Nougat: homemade nougat bar like peanut or cashew nougat
- Whole Nuts: pure chocolate with whole nuts, fruits and raisins in it
- Nashis-Mini: a chocolate variety of pure mini chocolates
- Nashido: thin mini chocolate bars with a creamy filling in ten different flavours
- Drinking Chocolate: different variations of drinking chocolates which can be melted in hot milk
- Balleros: dried fruit and roasted nut pieces rolled in chocolate
- Biofekt-Pralinies: filled and hand-decorated pralines
- BASiC Couverture and Light Bulbs: excellent for baking, mixing creams or mousses
- Sim Bim Cakes: organic and fair-trade cakes in a glass
- Coffee Mi(s)Chung: coffee beans from Mexican, Colombian and Indian cocoa farmers which are roasted in-house at the manufacture
- Pop Art Corn: fresh popcorn coated with chocolate
- CREMA Nougat: organic and fair nougat cream in a glass
- Globally: small chocolate balls
- Flic Flocs: chocolate flakes in eight varieties
- Nutting Hills: nougat bar with whole nuts inside
- ChocoShots: Zotter fillings in a syringe
- Lollytop: chocolate lollies which are available in different colours
- Stack of Leaves: very thin chocolate bars
- Nibs+CocoaBeans: cocoa beans for snacking[5]