SUSTAINABILITY

5 Point Program

1. Sustainability model of excellence in community

Our very own

69% Single Origin Couverture

We are committed to fostering a sustainable cacao supply chain that generates consistent employment opportunities for farmers with strong prohibition of all forms of forced and exploitative labor especially from children.

Bringing his first love back as a chocolatier, the founder and well-known boulanger and patissier Gerard Dubois, has traveled all the way to the South Philippines to pursue his childhood passion for Chocolate!

Chocolate has been one of the favorites and most loved in the world of pastries. However, producing chocolate is no easy task – from growing the cacao beans to molding them into couverture. In order to produce high quality chocolates, one needs high quality cacao seeds. Farmers undergo the grueling task of taking good care of cacao seedlings in terms of survival for the first few years. Too much of anything is not good. This is also true for cacao seedlings. Too much shade or too much sunlight inhibits the ability of the seedling to grow and produce cacao pods (fruits). But it does not stop there! Once harvested, the beans undergo the extensive process of fermentation, drying, roasting, winnowing, conching – which are essential for the development of flavor, aroma and texture.

Being able to produce quality couverture requires a great deal of hard work – research, trials, and collaboration with experts. Not only does the unique geographical location, rich quality of soil and climate, contribute to the quality of cocoa but also how it is being processed. Both aspects have to be met in order to produce a good quality couverture. With innovative hearts driven by the passion to make a childhood dream into a reality, the team never gave up. And finally, after years of intensive collaboration with experts and farmers, the hard work has finally paid off.

La Rose Noire Inc. now has its very own single origin couverture!

2. Technological initiatives for social environmental change

Our commitment to be environment-friendly drives us to continuous innovations and initiatives. We’ve shifted our power from traditional electricity to renewable solar energy. The factory in the Philippines’ rooftop is fully covered with solar panels to achieve this. These solar panels generate eco-friendly renewable energy and eliminates more than 12 million pounds of carbon footprint from our operations.

A sustainable source of

RENEWABLE ENERGY

A factory running 24/7 to produce world-class products requires a lot of energy per month. A minimum of 600,000 kwh of energy is needed monthly to run machines, ovens, freezers, power-up operations to meet the demand of the international market.

Having constant innovation on products, La Rose Noire also continues to develop new ways to contribute to the environment and investing on renewable energy is one of its initiatives. La Rose Noire is an advocate to develop alternative sustainable energy that will benefit not only the company, but most importantly, the environment.

The factory in Clark, Philippines is set to obtain 620 kwp by installing 3000 units of Astronergy 310watts mono-crystalline solar panels on its rooftop, with the new Generation SMA Core I Inverter and mounting system.

This movement will generate a sustainable and renewable source of energy coming from Solar Energy Systems, replacing other harmful technologies like coal mining and fossil fuel. By installing these solar panels, an average of 886,600 kwh can be generated annually and will eliminate more than 12.7 million (approx.) pounds of carbon footprints from its operations, thus making a cleaner and greener environment.

3. Adopting to sustainable practices

We continuously adapt to sustainable practices on our daily operations. We have installed “Sky Tunnels” which provides natural light to our multipurpose hall during daytime. We Also have changed our regular lights to LED that consume less electricity.

The food waste we collect goes to the animal farms. We also collect rain water to be used in cleaning service vehicles and watering plants. We maximize the use of office papers and use scratch papers for some documents. And the excess dough we have from the production becomes bread for all our staff.

To maximize the power generated by our solar panels, we schedule most of the work during daytime. As we generate 100% of the electricity we need during daytime, it makes our operations more sustainable.

4. Reforestation commitment

Tree Planting Activities

We involve our staff in our drive to sustainability. We have regular tree planting activities that help our local forest be restored and have more seedlings to grow.

We also have our own pocket garden and our cacao garden that serves as a learning paradise for our foundation students. Our students get to learn the process of how chocolate is made – from planting the cacao to becoming a bitter-sweet dark couverture.