Zotter, Styra

The green heart of Austria stands out this time with a different color - chocolate brown. Josef Zotter, founder and owner of the famous Zotter chocolate, hosts HERZ News at the Zotter Bean-to-Bar factory in Riegersburg to talk about fair trade and the chocolate side of life.

Chocolate serves many purposes in life - depending on the cocoa content, it has positive effects on the cardiovascular system, but can also be given as a gift to please our loved ones. It is also said to produce the mood-boosting serotonin (happiness hormone). Of course, all this is true only if the consumption amount is correctly dosed and the quality is right. We prefer to leave the effect on the beautiful figure aside.

The cocoa plantations

Cocoa plantations in West Africa (Ghana and Ivory Coast) now cover around 65 percent of the global harvest. Since the cocoa plant is very demanding as a shade crop, it requires a minimum amount of precipitation distributed throughout the year at an average temperature of 25_°C, as well as a natural canopy that protects the cocoa trees from direct sunlight. Therefore, rainforest areas near the equator are best suited for cultivation. However, if the rainforest is cleared on a large scale for monocultures and pesticides are used, this leads to criticism. Child labor is also a major problem in these countries.

Zotter Schokolade is one of the few organic chocolate brands worldwide that is committed to fair trade and excludes the exploitation of people as well as nature in the production of its own chocolate. When the price of raw material dropped during the pandemic, Josef Zotter did not take advantage of the situation, but motivated his cocoa farmers to use the time to improve quality. As a member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), the umbrella organization for fair trade, the entire company is Fair Trade Verified. This means, among other things, that fair wages are paid, no child labor takes place and care is taken for the environment.

HERZ News: Mr. Zotter, how do you see the situation with regard to the criticism of cocoa plantations?

Josef Zotter: Organic is the solution. Cocoa must be certified organic, otherwise I won't touch it. I don't even have to emphasize it much, because everything in our house is organic. For the first time in my life, it has also brought economic fruit. Fertilizer prices have gone up massively, but organic farms have not been affected because we don't use them. We are an organic farm and have invested a lot in renewable energy. We have our own photovoltaic systems and have always used green electricity. In addition, we did not have any supply chain problems during the pandemic because we use a lot of sail cocoa (the cocoa is transported by sail ship). I can't stress it enough: This is the future.

HERZ News: Fair trade is particularly important to you. You also have a very close relationship with the cocoa farmers, right?

Josef Zotter: Sure. My parents were fruit growers. My father knew exactly when to pick the apple. It doesn't grow in the supermarket, but on the land. That's why I also went into fair trade, because only the farmer knows exactly when it's time to pick. You can't start with the technology, you have to start with the farmer. First comes the farmer with the raw material, then the technology, that is, us with our know-how, and then the consumer who pays the price. We all have to be able to look each other in the eye.

HERZ News: You are a trained chef and pastry chef, how did you discover your passion for chocolate?

Josef Zotter: I learned the profession of cook because it was the only escape route from here (laughs). I was able to work all over the world. During my apprenticeship, I found out that I have a very sensory memory. My chef once recited the recipe to me and I had it in my head, as well as the flavor of the combinations. I can see the recipe and tell what the combination tastes like. Through my "eating jobs" I have always had to deal with food and also with chocolate.

HERZ News: This ability is a great advantage for you in your profession. Especially when I consider what a variety of varieties and different flavor combinations you have.

Josef Zotter: Chocolate harmonizes with so many flavors. Cocoa itself has 600 flavors like peppers, spicy flavors, sweet flavors, nutty flavors, etc. - it's insane. This diversity inspired me to use it to its fullest. If cacao develops so many nutty flavors through roasting, then I can expand on that. I thought to myself, "Okay, how do you handle that many flavors?" Then the igniting moment was to make the hand-scooped chocolate. The layering system, with up to 8 layers on top of each other, creates the special flavor.

HERZ News: So you decided to become a chocolatier?

Josef Zotter: Social component and handmade chocolate were the starting points that I decided to make chocolate. I always asked myself why Austria, Switzerland and Germany are considered typical countries for milk chocolate and why everything tastes the same. So I made my first trip to Nicaragua as part of a development project. The first thing I noticed in the city was the enormous class difference. On the left side of the street were the children, full of poverty. Right across the street on the right side was wealth - nice houses, garages, all top of the line. I thought to myself, this can't be.

HERZ News: That led you to the origin of chocolate, that is, to cocoa?

Josef Zotter: The big industries, the balance of power from the big players and the local people in poverty made it clear to me. It made me realize why we have so much milk chocolate. With milk chocolate, the cocoa doesn't have to be particularly good. I then had the thought of dark chocolate. But would the quality then fit? I looked into the organic and the social conditions. The local farmers have no use for cacao, they eat the pulp and throw away the seeds. They don't know chocolate as we know it because there is no culture for it there. We had to make it clear to them that they have to do the fermenting really well.

HERZ News: Is this how the "Quality instead of Poverty" project came about?

Josef Zotter: Donations alone are not the solution. People have their pride. So we made a deal with them - we look each other in the eye. The farmer has to harvest the cocoa at the right time and process it properly, then the cocoa gets to us, which is our technology. We dedicate ourselves to quality. While we get into some slowness here, we get better life, less consumption, and a longer shelf life.

HERZ News: With over 1,800 varieties and 80 innovations with new combinations and flavors every year, how do the recipes come about?

Josef Zotter: We all talk about innovation, but what is innovation? Innovation is a risk. An innovation moves humanity forward. Mistakes happen, of course, as well as with my chocolates, there are horrible ones too (laughs). But if you play it safe, you don't move forward. People are different and have different tastes. If you try everything beforehand, you take the edge off success and you're average. The genius is lost. You have to let the idea live, because otherwise you get away from it. I can say with certainty, the most interesting varieties are the ones that sell poorly. That's how you learn.

HERZ News: So you're not afraid of failure?

Josef Zotter: I've already failed, but I deal with it offensively, quite consciously, because I'm heartbroken by the thing with all its edges, ups and downs. It's only when you go to the edge that you see the most. I try to instill in young people that they don't have to have credit or debt. The fear of failure takes so much energy. Make an awesome product, stand behind it, and make all the mistakes while you're young.

HERZ News: So you're saying, get out of the pigeonhole thinking of having to do everything right and be successful quickly, for that let off steam and do everything with heart?

Josef Zotter: I am inspired by my job. I can't do it at all without it. The most important thing is our teachers, they have to find talents. If children were strengthened in their talents instead of focusing on their weaknesses, they would be better developed. So many people are educated mediocrely that they don't know what they want later. Society is currently ticking towards StartUps, Population, "When can I buy my house?", etc. Money does not make you happy. Happiness only comes from being engaged in what you care about. Pigeonhole thinking doesn't get us anywhere.

HERZ News: What would you like to tell our HERZ News readers in conclusion?

Josef Zotter: Maximizing humanity is the biggest gain. Everything is being automated, everything is becoming anonymous, that's the economic component, but humanity is all we have. We should always remember that we are not alone in the world. We are a community. Every human being has the right to a good life. If distribution worked, we would have quite a few centuries ahead of us. Besides, one bar of chocolate a week is enough (laughs) - a good bar, a special bar. It's about enjoyment, about variety, about the sensual experience. Chocolate is something sensual, but it can also be quite bitter in a social sense if it's not fairly traded.

HERZ News congratulates Zotter Schokolade for the international success from Styria and thanks the HERZ boiler for years of use in the production of chocolate.

HERZ steam boiler in use The chocolate comes to life

The creation of the chocolate goes through various processes. After the quality check, the cocoa beans are cleaned and roasted depending on the type of cocoa. Zotter Schokolade uses an 840 kW Binder steam boiler for the roasting process. The steam energy is compressed and the cocoa is roasted with steam. The fuel, which also consists in part of cocoa shells, is transported to the feed screw by means of an articulated discharge and transport screw, with which it is fed into the boiler. After the roasting process, debacterization takes place. Once the cocoa beans are crushed into cocoa nibs, they are ground in the pre-mill, which melts the cocoa butter. This produces the liquid raw cocoa liquor, which tastes quite bitter. For the sweet taste, sugar and milk are added, giving the mass a coarse state. The mass is then refined under high pressure on the roller and then refined for hours in the conche (special kneading and stirring machine). Now the chocolate gets the right consistency to be further processed according to taste and creativity.