Villars is a story of commitment

Since it was founded, Villars Maître Chocolatier has been built on convictions. And these convictions have become the company commitments.

To offer the finest chocolate, respecting the strictest standards of the trade. To play a role in company life, to behave responsibly towards employees and the environment.

To work in compliance with the values of transparency, both in how we choose and cultivate raw materials and ingredients. And to be rightfully proud of our origins, the Canton of Fribourg, in Switzerland.

Swissness forever

Villars Maître Chocolatier has always favoured raw materials and suppliers from Switzerland: 100% Swiss milk and sugar, as well as most of the packaging. To obtain exceptional chocolate, Villars has chosen to select and roast the cocoa beans itself on site at the chocolate factory in the heart of Switzerland, in Fribourg. Offering the best chocolate, in full compliance with the standards of the profession, also means being responsible towards its employees and its environment. This is why the company works in accordance with the values of transparency, both in the choice of raw materials and ingredients.

This is borne out by the partnerships we have with local Swiss producers.

Villars exclusively collects milk from farms of animals from the best dairy breeds that feed on fresh grass and hay. In Switzerland, milk production is a centuries-old tradition and the regulations of the dairy sector are l one of the strictest in the world. To go even further and guarantee sustainable milk production, Villars offers a range of three chocolate bars with milks drawn from Swiss terroirs (Friborg, Bern and Pays de Vaud) which proudly bear the Swiss Milk Green label.

By using milk certified Swiss Milk Green, Villars contributes to the development and influence of the Swiss milk industry, committed to animal welfare and widely acclaimed by Swiss consumers. Villars can thus claim a local origin, a guarantee of freshness, exemplary quality, sustainable production and processing. The 100% Swiss sugar comes from the Aarberg sugar factory located 40 km from the chocolate factory, which allows Villars to be part of the short supply chains. This sugar comes from beets harvested throughout Switzerland and produced using an environmentally friendly culture. The sugar refinery recycles and recycles all the co-products of the sugar industry.

Corporate social responsibility

Villars’ CSR approach is also based on the Swiss Triple Impact program. To accelerate its responsible and social business approach, Villars has opted for the Swiss Triple Impact program, a Swiss B-Lab initiative that supports companies wishing to transform their organization by making them more resilient and agile.

By involving all of its employees, Villars has set itself the challenge of 4 priority SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals) allowing a positive impact on society and the environment. The ambition of Villars is strong: to establish its environmental, social and societal diagnosis, in a process of progress and to confront the very demanding international reference B-Corp in order to find the best levers to be a responsible and conscious player.

Healthy, responsible, Clean Label and eco-designed products to meet consumers’ expectations.

Villars is committed to a Clean Label approach by reducing its ingredient lists as much as possible and using only natural ingredients, without preservatives, without controversial ingredients, without palm oil and without soy lecithin. Villars is also implementing nutritional labeling by the portion in order to inform consumers about the nutritional values of a reasoned quantity. In 2021, more than half of Villars chocolate packaging carries it.

Villars is committed to an eco-design approach by integrating the environment from product design and reducing its impact on natural resources. Villars limits the use of plastic and the weight of the materials used for its packaging as much as possible. All the by-products from the production of Villars chocolate are upgraded: 9% for methanation, 25% for energy recovery, 31% are recycled and 35% are intended for animal feed.

Chocolat Villars is committed to sustainable cocoa

Sustainable and traceable cocoa supplies for a more responsible sector. In order to offer high quality, unique and rare chocolates and guarantee traceability and sustainability of the sector, 30% of cocoa purchases come from sustainable and Rainforest Alliance certified sectors.

In 2025, Villars is aiming for 100% of its cocoa purchases traced and resulting from sustainable partnerships. Villars has chosen the Rainforest Alliance certification.

International symbol of sustainability, this label means that cocoa beans have been produced using methods that support the three pillars of sustainable development: social, environmental and economic. Villars is also one of the founding members of the Chocosuisse platform, a federation of Swiss chocolate manufacturers, which works to promote an economically, socially and ecologically sustainable chocolate sector.