NEWSLETTER ENGLISH OUR STORY OUR PRODUCTS SUSTAINABILITY CONTACT SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability is a priority. Around the world, Guylian is synonymous with high quality Belgian Chocolates. We’re aiming to have more consumers trying our Belgian Chocolates and want to grow our business sustainably. We are supporting several sustainability programs and make interventions in the production process to produce with more sustainable ingredients and with less impact on the environment. PROJECT SEAHORSE Guylian has been Project Seahorse’s loyal partner and main sponsor since 1998. Project Seahorse is a small yet mighty team of scientists and conservationists, led by Dr. Amanda Vincent (University of British Columbia) and Dr. Heather Koldewey (Zoological Society of London) that make a big difference to conservation and sustainable use of the world’s coastal marine ecosystems. In total, Guylian has provided € 2 million in support of its programs. Besides Guylian’s financial contribution the company also helps to spread the word about seahorses and conservation on the millions of chocolate boxes sold worldwide every year. Project Seahorse is an international group dedicated to securing a world where marine ecosystems are healthy and well-managed, using seahorses as flagship species to generate action. Guylian shares in many of Project Seahorse’ biggest conservation successes, from the creation of 36 marine protected areas to the initiation of the first global export controls for marine fishes and the creation of a citizen science venture: the app and website iSeahorse. Guylian’s long-term engagement has been granted with the first “Corporate Social Responsibility Award 2015”, by the Royal Belgian Committee for Distribution, which recognizes companies who give back to the planet and community. Guylian ‘s commitment stood out again at the Tax Free World Association Exhibition in Cannes in 2019, where Guylian ‘s 20 years’ dedicated support to Project Seahorse won the first “Corporate Social Responsibility Award 2019” by Frontier Travel Retail Magazine. Did you know…that the tail of a real seahorse curls to the front, while the tail of our Guylian Chocolate Seahorses curls to the back? You can find more info on www.projectseahorse.org and www.iseahorse.org. GET THE APP VISIT ISEAHORSE.ORG ISEAHORSE iSeahorse is Project Seahorse’s citizen science website and smartphone app that allows anyone, anywhere in the world to contribute to seahorse science and conservation by sharing their wild seahorse sightings. Whether you’re a diver, seahorse enthusiast or just a tourist on a beach holiday… this ‘citizen science’ tool allows anyone to upload a sighting of a seahorse in the wild and thus provide Project Seahorse with vital data to improve seahorse conservation. Researchers around the world use this data to better understand seahorse behavior, species ranges and the threats they face. With this knowledge, Project Seahorse is able to set up worldwide conservation projects. Guylian launches new Chocolate Gift Boxes, themed "Saving our oceans together" Guylian is very proud to announce that Dr. Amanda Vincent, Ph.D, Director and co-founder of Project Seahorse, is the 2020 winner of the Indianapolis Prize, the World’s Leading Award for Animal Conservation. “It is a great honor to be named the 2020 Indianapolis Prize Winner. This prestigious global award allows me to advocate for vastly more attention to the ocean – which accounts for 99 percent of the living space on Earth – and all the species on which the marine ecosystem depends. Guylian Belgian Chocolates has been our indispensable partner in marine conservation since 1998. Hugely generous support and engagement from this wonderful company has made a world of difference to what we could achieve.” said Dr. Amanda Vincent. You can read the full press release here. To celebrate this great honor, Guylian chocolates developed a brand new range of gift boxed chocolates, inspiring millions of consumers to save our oceans and their marine species. “Every time you buy a box of Guylian Belgian chocolates, you help to save seahorses and the oceans.” SEAHORSES OF THE WORLD The Guylian Seahorses of the World Competition is held every two years and gathers the best seahorse photos and videos from underwater photographers and divers around the world. Together with NELOS and Project Seahorse, Guylian’s aim for this competition is to raise awareness about seahorses, their habitats and the threats they face. We have recently decided to postpone the Seahorses Of The World Photography and Video Competition to 2021. PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO COMPETITION 2018 Discover the winners of the 2018 Guylian Seahorses of the World Competition PROJECT COCOA With Project Cocoa, which is powered by the Cocoa Horizons Foundation, Guylian is committed to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and their communities through the promotion of sustainable, entrepreneurial farming, improved productivity, community development and the protection of nature and children. So we can all benefit from a sustainable future… together. It is Guylian’s ambition to use 100% sustainable cocoa by 2025. Our mission is to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and to secure the future of their children. “Every time you enjoy Guylian Belgian Chocolate 100g Bars you support Project Cocoa.” “ I feel proud that now I can say to my children – ‘Look, this is a good profession, you can stay on the farm and in our village and earn good money doing a respectable thing. There’s no need to go to work in town’. ” – Brega Bi Kouadio Appolinaire, Cocoa Farmer, Côte d’Ivoire. CURIOUS ABOUT HOW OUR CHOCOLATE IS MADE? COCOA FARMERS FACE A LOT OF CHALLENGES Cocoa is typically produced by smallholder farmers in remote equatorial areas. Most of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa, an area that faces the industry’s most vital sustainability challenges. Among them: limited knowledge and understanding of good agricultural practices; aging farms and depleted soil; the unpredictable effects of climate change; and a lack of financing options to invest in productivity activities. To address the challenges and achieve real progress, the Cocoa Horizons Foundation’s impact driven approach aligns with the industry’s Cocoa Action strategy and focuses on three areas: environment, productivity and community. 1. ENVIRONMENT As part of the Cocoa and Forest Initiative, we are mapping farms in the supply chain to identify and collect cocoa farm boundaries polygon data to ensure cocoa is not being sourced from forest lands, National Parks and Reserves, and Classified Forests. You are making a positive impact on the world through the choice of what you buy. You’re contributing to ensuring our ingredients are deforestation-free. Nowadays, having a neutral impact on the world isn’t enough. We’re making sure our activities have a positive impact on our world today. Our partners aren’t just carbon neutral but working to become carbon and forest positive by 2025. “We have been taught to use the fallow lands and not new land for our farms. This is how we tackle deforestation.” Akekoua Ane Yvette, Cocoa Farmer, Côte d’Ivoire. 2. PRODUCTIVITY Our aim is to make the best quality chocolate you can buy. Different techniques are included in our farmer trainings and coaching to ensure quality beans are consistently delivered by our farmers. “You have to open the pod gently to avoid wounding the bean inside. At every stage you have to treat the tree and the pod with tenderness and give it the time and attention it deserves to give a good harvest” – Yedan Oumar, SACO, Côte d’Ivoire With Project Cocoa, our goal is to make cocoa farming a more profitable and desirable business for generations of farmers to come. Therefore 37% of the premium we pay is foreseen for productivity activities, such as training, coaching, creating farmer business plan and enabling access to farm services and micro-credit to make cocoa farming an attractive and viable business for future generations. 3. COMMUNITY We work with our partners to build long-term relationships with the farming communities on the ground so we can understand their lives. “I hope to set an example for other women in my village so that they can see that there’s a way for them to have financial independence and to be proud. When I train other women, I see the effect it has on them and their confidence and independence.” – Yvonne Amenan Konan, farmer/farmer trainer, Côte d’Ivoire. Cocoa communities often lack basic infrastructure and services, including schools, literacy and vocational training, access to safe water, and basic healthcare services. Gender imbalance also affects the sustainability of cocoa farming communities, with women having limited opportunities to build skills and generate income. To give visibility to this project we share different sustainable messages on the inside of all our 100g bars packagings. Not only our sup- port to this project is important for Guylian, but as a brand with positive and social impact, we also want to contribute by raising awareness around the world about the projects we support. Cocoa Horizons is an impact driven program focused on cocoa farmer prosperity and helping build self-sustaining farming communities that protect nature and children. The Cocoa Horizons Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization supervised by the Swiss Federal Foundation Supervisory Authority. PALM OIL FREE LEADING PALM OIL FREE BELGIAN CHOCOLATES BRAND Guylian announced its ambition to become the leading palm oil free Belgian chocolates brand. In 2018, Guylian decided to replace palm oil with shea butter and sunflower oil, resulting in smoother textured and even better tasting chocolates. Chocolates which are healthier, with less saturated fat and less sugar. WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COCOA HORIZONS FOUNDATION? The Foundation commits to annual external verification of its activities. The Cocoa Horizons Foundation 2017-18 Progress Report as well as many other details of the Cocoa Horizons Foundation can be found on www.cocoahorizons.org. Guylian's engagement At Guylian, we are taking several steps to reduce our footprint. Our story started more than 20 years ago, when Guylian decided to give back to nature by starting a long-term sponsorship of Project Seahorse. In 2019, Guylian took a next step by using sustainably sourced cocoa for the production of their new bars. The production team has realized several energy saving projects since we joined the audit covenant in 2006 and EBO (Energy Policy Agreements) in 2016, which resulted in 25% less primary energy consumption & CO2-emission (e.g. replacement of old equipment with more energy efficient alternatives, re-lighting,…) and in 2018 we installed a co-generation which produces 20% of our electricity need and significant heat supply, on a 40% more efficient way. We pay a lot of attention to packing our chocolates the right way, so we avoid waste, maximize the shelf-life and ship with little to no damage. Today, 98% of the packaging materials we use, are recyclable, and we’re working to get this to 100%. Recycling packaging is important and is a joint responsibility: an area of concern is that only 9% of plastic globally gets recycled. Our Sea Shells are 100% recyclable: Sea Shells: Guylian wants to avoid food waste at all times. We are taking several steps to avoid this during the production process and with the use of the foil around the packaging, we extend the shelf-life of our products. Tray: This plastic tray is necessary to help protect our pralines from damage and provides food safety. It is made out of Polypropylene (PP). PP is a recyclable thermoplastic polymer. Box: Our paper packaging is designed with as little plastic as possible, so that they can be deposited directly with paper and cardboard. (incl. the small PP plastic window) The primary material of our cardboard/paper is sourced in sustainably managed forest. Foil: We need this thin layer of plastic foil to guarantee flavour retention and longer freshness. It is made out of Polypropylene (PP). PP is a recyclable thermoplastic polymer, which can be disposed as PMD waste. Recycling means protecting the future generation by making the right choices. Together we can make a positive difference every day. Guylian implements several measures to minimize the environmental impact of its packaging, such as using paper materials of which the primary material is sourced in sustainably managed forest or comes from recycled fibers. We are also optimizing the design of their packaging in a way that allows them to save packaging material. It is our goal to become more and more sustainable. In 2020 we have set the goal to reduce another 12% of plastics within the company. We constantly strive for a zero-waste situation when it comes to packaging. 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