Commitment to Quality
Commitment to Quality

Cocoa beans are primarily sourced from equatorial countrys. Africa and South America produce most of the world’s cocoa, but in recent years, production in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia and Indonesia has been increasing. Godiva chocolate uses the best globally sourced cocoa beans and creates its own unique flavor.

Godiva’s Belgian manufacturing is located in Brussels where the Draps’ family began to make chocolate. The factory adheres to the Joseph Draps’ chocolate making methods. Using hand-picked materials and local chocolate making artistry, Godiva has kept its quality and flavor to make it one of the most upscale Belgian chocolates. In addition, for many of our seasonal products, Godiva works with a global network of trained chocolatiers to constantly create new chocolate innovations.

 
Commitment to Quality

How GODIVA is Made

Godiva uses two production methods to manufacture the various sizes and shapes of our chocolate: enrobing and shell-molding. Enrobing involves coating a formed center, like rich caramel, with smooth, method chocolate. The shell-molding process is practiced extensively in Europe, and it is the method used to manufacture most GODIVA chocolates.

Shell-molding begins with a mold composed of intricately designed “impressions”. Each cavity is filled with melted, tempered chocolate. The mould is inverted and most of the chocolate runs out. It is then cooled, which solidifies the remaining chocolate, forming a “shell”. The shell is filled with a center, allowing enough space for a thin layer of melted chocolate to be layered over the filling. After cooling, the chocolates are released from the mould. GODIVA produces some symmetrical shell-molded confections by “book-molding” two identical filled moulds together. The Heart, Walnut, Chestnut, Scallop, etc. are all book-molded.

The shell-molding process has enabled GODIVA to design unique molds, resulting in stylish, sophisticated confections easily recognized as “GODIVA”. When assortments of these shell-molded chocolates are then packed into GODIVA’s distinctive gold ballotins and seasonal boxes, they are sought by discerning customers everywhere.

 
Commitment to Quality

GODIVA Ingredients

GODIVA Chocolates are made from fine chocolate and high quality ingredients. The bittersweet and milk chocolate are made primarily from fine, high-flavor cocoa beans, processed to a velvety smoothness.

In the formulation of our fillings, we use large quantities of Grade A dairy butter and heavy cream-both are ingredients rarely used in quantity by American candy manufacturers.

GODIVA continually strives to create new, prestigious products. For example, our Almond Butter Dome, similar to a peanut butter cup, utilizes almond butter instead of peanut butter, elevating it far above everyday peanut butter confections. The nutmeats used in our products are U.S. Grade #1.

In keeping with our heritage, many of our chocolates contain hazelnut praline, a favorite European nut product. This delicious filling is made from finely ground hazelnuts, sugar and chocolate.

GODIVA’s Cherry Cordials are made with cherries that are delicately flavored and have a firm but tender texture. They contain no food coloring and are hand sorted to insure that they are free from cherry pits.

GODIVA uses specially dried fruits as ingredients for fruit-filled confections. The expensive drying process captures freshness hat is lost during conventional freezing. In addition, pure additive-free cherry and raspberry juices give flavor to our Cherry and Raspberry Buttercreams that cannot be matched artificially.

 

Our Sustainable Practices

At Godiva we support sustainable practices and programs on a worldwide basis. We strive to invest in programs and practices that lead to lasting positive outcomes for our consumers, partners and communities. We are proud of the work that we do to support farmers and our partners, safeguard our environment, and empower the communities in which we work and live.

Enriching Lives

Godiva is a participating member of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), a leading nonprofit organization that promotes sustainability in the cocoa sector by providing cocoa farmers with the support they need to grow more quality cocoa and strengthen their communities. The WCF's work has led to increased productivity and profits for cocoa farmers, helping to ensure a sustainable supply of cocoa for generations to come.

We also participate in cocoa sustainability activities through the Cocoa Horizons Foundation, which seeks to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and their communities through the promotion of sustainable, entrepreneurial farming, improved productivity, and community development. Through our support of the Cocoa Horizons Foundation, we aim to improve farming practices and explore innovative solutions to drive positive change in cocoa-growing communities.

A critical component of enriching lives is the protection of the world’s children, as well as improved training and education for young people. Godiva believes that protecting children is a shared responsibility across the cocoa industry. We strongly condemn forced labor or any practice that exploits, endangers or harms children. While Godiva does not own any cocoa farms, we have a policy that requires all of our suppliers to be in compliance with applicable labor laws and regulations. Our cocoa is purchased through established suppliers that agree to comply with applicable labor laws.

An essential part of our work in communities is our commitment to empower women and children. We are proud partners of Save the Children, the world’s leading independent non-profit organization for children in nearly 120 countries. They have two decades of experience implementing programs in the Côte d’ Ivoire, which is the world’s largest cocoa growing country. Through our collaboration with Save the Children, we are helping to prevent child and maternal deaths in this important cocoa-growing country by addressing causes and finding solutions so that women and their children survive childbirth.

Save the Children has apprised us that our support has increased access to and supply of quality health services, strengthened the capacity of communities to demand quality essential practices for maternal health, and helped advocate for equitable health services in the region. Our commitment to improving health and our partnership with Save the Children has positioned us to potentially benefit even more women and children in this region.

A hallmark of our work to empower women is The Lady GODIVA Program, which celebrates inspirational women. Each year, we recognize women in local communities who embody the spirit of Lady Godiva through their attributes of selflessness, generosity and leadership. We contribute to their causes which include fighting hunger, poverty and environmental degradation. In the first year of the program, Godiva partnered with the charitable organization FEED Projects, to sell an exclusive FEED 10 bag in our retail boutiques and online, which resulted in the funding of over 300,000 school meals for children in cocoa growing countries of West Africa. Since then, we have expanded The Lady GODIVA Program to award grants to local women each year who are making a difference in their communities in critical areas such as health care, child welfare and animal protection.

Godiva also contributes the time and energies of our employees to important charitable initiatives including environmental stewardship, social and economic development, and organizations that protect and support women and children. Our global employee volunteering program, Godiva Gives, encourages our employees to dedicate their time each year during normal working hours to causes that are important to them, and that support the communities where we live and work. We are extremely proud of the passion and commitment of our employees for giving back.

Enriching the Planet

We are committed to ensuring the sustainability of our world, and continue to build responsible practices into our sourcing and supply chain. We believe in safeguarding the environment through sound agricultural practices and the responsible use of resources.

We have achieved 100% sourcing of sustainable palm oil and are a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RPSO), a not-for-profit association that aims to transform markets to make sustainable palm oil the norm.

We also have set an ambitious target to source 100% sustainable cocoa by 2020, and are actively taking steps to achieve this goal.

Lady GODIVA Program Cocoa Horizons Foundation Save the Children