Zotter Chocolate (doc) – the company, the philosophy, trends, history and facts at a glance.
It’s that time of the year again at Zotter, and our new Christmas and seasonal collection is in – all of course ORGANIC + FAIR. We’ve worked long hours at our Christmas workshop to create many new festive chocolates and designs, beautified with sparkly gold patterns. Zotter chocolates are always something special and make for the perfect gift! Christmas is the sweetest time of the year, a time of giving, indulging and lots of lovely surprises.
You will find all our indulgent chocolate miracles and delicious new products with themes ranging from St. Nick’s to New Year’s in our latest Christmas catalogue.
Hand-scooped chocolates are the stars of this season again, with 10 new flavours, 6 gift chocolates and 10 new, small, hand-scooped Chocolate Minis. This time, we’re focusing on texture. The motto: let’s get crackling! Many of the new flavours are tender-melting and crispy-crackly, featuring waffle brittle and crunchy delicacies like »Caramel Praline Crunch«, »Cherry & Nut Waffle«, »Waffle Brittle«, »Cheesecake« with a crispy biscuit layer and »Peanut Caramel« with whole, crunchy peanuts. Fans of baking will love our small Choco Drops in 3 flavours, and the Chocolate 5.0 is the spectacular opening to our 50-g format chocolate range: a pure chocolate with a fruity touch and hints of praline in 4 flavours: »Cash Berry«, »Happy Peppi«, »Sansi Bar« und »Xoki Toki«. Furthermore we celebrate 30 years of Zotter design by Andreas Quella-Gratze aka A-H-G, who draws these small pieces of art with stylistic diversity and a shot of humour.
You can find the entire Easter range in the latest catalogue, alongside sweet Mother’s and Father’s Day surprises, the fruity, innovative »Cheery & Nuts« products, »In • Fusion« delicacies as well as fruity chocolate recommendations for the upcoming summer season.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW
Have a look inside the latest Easter and Spring Catalogue 2024 (PDF).
Chocolate, a sweet declaration of love. We've curated a seductive selection of filled chocolates with love messages, decorated chocolate hearts, rose petal chocolates and more, which will let your lovestruck heart beat a little faster. Chocolates are the most delicious declaration of love.
Have a look inside the new Valentine's Day catalogue 2024 (PDF).
It’s that time of the year again at Zotter, and our new Christmas and seasonal collection is in – all of course ORGANIC + FAIR. We’ve come up with lots of sweet surprises and have created many new products and designs.
You will find all our indulgent chocolate miracles and delicious new products with themes ranging from Saint Nick’s to New Year’s in our latest Christmas catalogue.
The new season rings in a celebration of variety & innovation & sustainability. A particular focus is on our hand-scooped chocolates, featuring 22 new flavours, 11 of them available with English-language packaging. We are also proud to present lots of new vegan chocolate innovations from hand-scooped Rum Coconut to Lemon & Almond to the latest vegan milk chocolates from the Labooko range, created using oat drinks instead of milk. Our third highlight is the Cheery & Nuts range, that tender-melting chocolate and praline duo with a crunch – unique in its creation.
NEWS & FOCUS
Discover lots of new products as well as delicious classics in our latest catalogue (PDF).
In the attached catalogue, you will find the entire Easter range, some sweet surprises for Mother’s and Father’s Day, the new »Cheery & Nuts« range as well as the »In • Fusion« products and some fruity chocolate tips for the summer range.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW
Have a look inside the new Easter and Spring Catalogue 2023 (PDF).
Chocolate, a sweet declaration of love. We've curated a seductive selection of filled chocolates with love messages, decorated chocolate hearts, rose petal chocos and more, which will let your lovestruck heart beat a little faster. Chocolates are the most delicious declaration of love.
Have a look inside the new Valentine's Day catalogue 2023 (PDF).
It’s that time of the year again at Zotter, and our new Christmas and seasonal collection is in – all of course ORGANIC + FAIR.
You will find all our indulgent chocolate miracles and delicious new products with themes ranging from Saint Nick’s to New Year’s in our latest Christmas catalogue.
30 years of hand-scooped chocolate: in 1992, we created the very first hand-scooped chocolates. And for this, we would like to celebrate the creation of the hand-scooped chocolate with all-new flavours and innovations like Poppy Seed & Cherry and Amalfi Lemon & Sage Marzipan. »Where it all started and where it’s going«: a conversation with the Zotter family, inventors of the hand-scooped chocolate, and art designer Andreas H. Gratze.
NEWS & FOCUS
The Easter and spring collection is in – all of course ORGANIC + FAIR.
NEW PRODUCTS AT A GLANCE
You can find the entire Easter range, sweet surprises for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, our new product ranges »Cheery & Nuts« and »Praline Bars« as well as fruity chocolate suggestions for your summer selection in our latest catalogue.
It’s that time of the year again at Zotter, and our new Christmas and seasonal collection is in – all of course ORGANIC + FAIR.
You will find all our indulgent chocolate miracles and delicious new products with themes ranging from Saint Nick’s to New Year’s in our latest Christmas catalogue.
The new season is a celebration of fruit. We kick it off with 12 new Hand-scooped Chocolates, all with delicious fruity fillings. We have everything from Blackberries and Strawberries to our exceptional Date & Cashew, only sweetened with fruit. We also present lots of new vegan and sugar alternative varieties in our range: 2 new flavours from the sugar alternative Squaring the Circle range, one new sugar alternative Drinking Chocolate and all-new spreadable Crema for your morning toast. In addition, we’ve developed 6 new Balleros, all of course fruity and with a focus on flavour combinations, because people love a huge variety.
4 NEW CHOCO RANGES
In • Fusion: classic chocolates enhanced with fruity couvertures. Experience dark and milk chocolates with raspberry, orange, cherry and cranberry flavours. The new classics are a fruity indulgence!
Cheery & Nuts: the tender-melting praline-and-fruit duo with chopped nuts. Blueberry & Hazelnut Praline, Strawberry & Cashew Praline, Cranberry & Hemp Praline and many more.
Praline Bar: Almond Praline Bar, Hazelnut Praline Bar and Cashew Praline Bar. Featuring super cute animal designs, they are perfectly portioned little snacks for nut fans big and small.
Labooko Mini: the little Labookos – 10 different Labooko Mini flavours in one package including a virtual chocolate tasting with Julia Zotter, which you can watch any time using the QR-code printed on the packaging.
The Easter and spring collection is in – all of course ORGANIC + FAIR.
NEW PRODUCT OVERVIEW
You can find the entire Easter range including sweet Mother’s and Father’s Day surprises as well as fruity chocolate tips for the summer collection in our latest catalogue.
Chocolates are a sweet declaraction of love – all of course ORGANIC + FAIR.
You can find gifts to warm your heart in our Valentine's Day catalogue.
It’s getting Christmassy at Zotter’s and our entire festive collection – all of course ORGANIC + FAIR – is available to order as of now.
You can find our magical chocolates and all our new products from St. Nicholas to New Year’s Eve in our latest seasonal catalogue.
We open this season with 16 new, Hand-scooped Chocolates: 3 variations of tender-melting Choco Mousse, 3 new Wine flavours, some cheeky Cola & Popcorn and much more.
Moreover, our focus this season is nuts – a current culinary trend. There are nutty new highlights sprinkled all over our range: Hand-scooped Chocolates with Marzipan and Almonds, homemade Pine Nut Marzipan, Chestnut + Cranberry and the re-launched Whole Nuts range with whole nuts from classic hazelnut to delicious pecans. Our re-imagined, tender-melting Praliné feature almonds, hemp, pumpkin seeds and more, and in our sugar-substituting Squaring the Circle range, we have 2 new, wonderfully soft praline creations made with Cashew and Hazelnut. And that’s just the start.
In our Labooko range, we present the mythical Maya Cacao and eco-conscious flavours made with cacao grown and harvested in nature reserves, or – like our Belize cacao – shipped to us via an actual sailboat.
NEW CHOCOLATE RANGE • FRUIT BAR
Fruity, crunchy & all natural
Tender-melting fruit: colourful fruit couvertures enhanced with many little bits of fruit which give them a wonderfully crispy crunch. A huge, fruity flavour sensation made from purely natural ingredients, created – fruit-to-bar – by Zotter. Summer as a snack. Available in 9 flavours, 2 of which are entirely vegan.
Andreas H. Gratze, our art director, has been busy re-designing many of our chocolate wrappers. His popular illustrations full of creativity and humour have always been an absolute eye-catcher.
Have a look inside the new catalogue 2020-21 (PDF)
The new Easter collection has arrived. You can find our entire Easter range alongside sweet Mother’s and Father’s Day surprises in the latest catalogue.
NEW AND CHANGED PRODUCT OVERVIEW
You can find our magical chocolates and all our new products from Easter to Father's Day in our latest seasonal catalogue.
Bonn, 9. November 2019, Villa Hammerschmidt
The 2019 Walter Scheel Medal has been awarded to Josef Zotter.
Jury award justification: »Josef ZOTTER – Zotter Chocolate Manufactory, Riegersburg – has been awarded the 13th annual Walter Scheel Medal to honour his exceptional contribution to the development of our great European chocolate culture. Josef Zotter is a true paragon of a business owner: innovative, determined and persistent and at the same time modest and down-to-earth. He is one of the world’s best chocolate producers and shows that competence and top artisanal product quality are not synonymous with an elitist approach and that fairness and sustainability can be much more than just marketing speak. With his highly innovative product range, his “bean to bar” processes and exclusively organic and fair trade produce, Josef Zotter impressively demonstrates how successful ethical business practices can become in the 21st century. His creations, meanwhile, keep scoring top marks in international competitions.«
Every year since 2014, in accordance with the European spirit of unity, connection and integration, the Walter Scheel Medal for lifestyle and gastronomy has been given out for outstanding services to European cuisine and gastronomy. The honourees are usually two individuals who have made exceptional contributions in these areas and to our cultural heritage. The award was created under the patronage of H.E. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, former President of the Republic of France.
Josef Zotter is this year’s winner of the »European Candy Kettle Awards 2019«
The Candy Kettle Award is given for extraordinary quality, innovation and market performance.
Zotter among the Big Players
Since 1973, this award’s long and illustrious list of winners has featured the most important names in the European confectionary industry like Ferrero, Lindt & Sprüngli, Fazer, Katjes, Krupskaya, Valor, Colian and Valrhona. You can find a full list of winners as well as additional information on the award, club members and events at www.candykettleclub.eu
Josef Zotter is very happy about this industry award which echoes way beyond Austria’s borders: »It’s a particular honour to be nominated and chosen as a winner, and to receive this prestigious award from the hands of some very Big Players in the industry. This all has been made possible by having the best employees in the world as well as a wonderful family! I am humbled, moved and overjoyed to be counted among these prominent representatives.«
It’s getting Christmassy at Zotter’s and our entire festive collection – all of course ORGANIC + FAIR – is available to order as of now.
You can find our magical chocolates and all our new products from Halloween to New Year’s Eve in our latest seasonal catalogue.
We open this season with 18 new hand-scooped chocolates. Look out for classics like Salted Caramel, Amarena Cherry, Tiramisu and much more. Our daughter Julia has developed two vegan classics – Boozy Chocolate Mousse and White Brittle – as well as some experimental flavours like the new Seaweed Chocolate and the supremely delicious Whisky & Bacon, which even attracted the attention of British television. We are also excited to feature Yuzu, the latest trend ingredient, with a stunning flavour somewhere between tangerine and lemon.
And because Zotter chocolates make a very popular give-away, we have 6 new gift chocolates in our latest range: “All the Best“, “Sweet Greetings!“, “Sweet Break“, “Chocolate is Happiness“ and two chocolates that can be personalised: “For … from…“, easy to inscribe and perfect for any occasion, as well as an “Emoji Choco“, with smileys you can tick.
There are 4 new hand-scooped mini-chocolate snacks and a unicorn chocolate lolly for the kids.
The Labooko range features 6 new dark chocolates, 4 of which hail from Africa, where cooperatives are now forming, which deliver fantastic cocoa quality. You’ll be surprised! Also, there are 2 new Labooko gift chocolates, “I Love You“ and “Be Happy“.
Have a look inside the new catalogue 2019-20 (PDF)
August 17, 2018 – We are 100% organic and fair trade as well as bean to bar and from this season, we will start to apply our new FAIR hand sign logo, as we renounce the Fairtrade label. We become a member of the World Fair Trade Organisation (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."
5. June 2018 – Zotter wins the most significant environmental award in the world and receives the "Energy Globe Austria 2018" award as overall winner. The Energy Globe Award is the most significant environmental award in the world. 2000 projects from 182 nations were submitted this year. During a nail-biting finale, Zotter prevailed as overall winner in Austria with the project "Umweltschutz als Erfolgskonzept" ("environmental protection as a design for success") and won the Energy Globe Austria 2018 Award.
Josef Zotter, nominated for the "World Entrepreneur of the Year 2016", the Business Oscar, represented Austria in Monte Carlo and managed to secure himself a place in the Hall of Fame with his own star on the sidewalk.
For six days, the best entrepreneurs from 49 countries demonstrated their skills to win the title of "World Entrepreneur of the Year 2016" in Monte Carlo. It was all about entrepreneurship, financial performance, strategy, global and communal impact of the company, innovative power and personality. CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) was the main focus, as was the invitation to all corporations to increasingly dedicate themselves to social tasks.
The jury's decision was accompanied by a brilliant framework programme, including a gala dinner, a meeting with Prince Albert, lots of celebrities, a high density of Maseratis and Porsches and a big firework.
Josef and Ulrike Zotter accepted the renowned "EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame" trophy, while the Australian Manny Stul from Moose Enterprise Holdings & Controlled Entities won the race and the title.
Josef Zotter wins in the category of Trade & Consumer Goods and represents Austria at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016
On October 9th, 2015, the audit & consulting organisation EY gave out the Entrepreneur Of The Year Award for the tenth time in Austria. More than 300 guests from the worlds of business, politics and society accepted the invitation to the glamorous gala in the ballrooms of the Hofburg Vienna. Out of the nine finalists, Josef Zotter from the Zotter Chocolate Manufacture was chosen represent Austria at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award, which will take place in June 2016 in Monte Carlo.
"Zotter is and will remain at the top of the world-best chocolate manufacturers and by far the most innovative chocolatier of all." (Chocolate – the reference standard 2015, p. 839)
The chocolate world is in motion, which is why the chocolate tester Georg Bernardini has once again published a colossal standard work (919 pages) about the international chocolate market. The test included 550 brands and 4,000 products from 70 countries (by comparison, in 2012, the test included 271 brands, 2,700 products and 38 countries).
Zotter ranks among the Top 25 - the best chocolatiers in the world
"Zotter: the placement among the Top 25 is so much matter of course as it is for only very few brands and companies, similar to Domori almost indisputable." (Chocolate – the reference standard 2015, p. 849)
The Top 25 are awarded 6 cocoa pods. 6 cocoa pods stand for "Extraordinary quality of all products. Extremely rare to no deviations in the outstanding quality of the products." (Chocolate – the reference standard 2015, p. 137)
Zotter is the only producer from Germany and Austria in the Top 25 and still the only one to produce solely in organic and fair-trade quality.
Reference: Georg Bernardini: "CHOCOLATE – THE REFERENCE STANDARD. The Chocolate Tester 2015. The best chocolates and pralines in the world. What’s behind it all and what we can gladly forego." 919 pages, www.thechocolatetester.com
