Italian chocolate is an end-of-summer treat in Czechia

Every day in Czechia is someone’s name day. A sweet gift is traditional, as it is on other special occasions, such as Valentine’s Day, birthdays, and Christmas. But did you know that the time of year can affect the quality of your box of pralines?

Ferrero Rocher pralines are among the most popular chocolates in the world—and among the most commonly gifted. Less well-known, however, is that Ferrero, a family business based in Italy, stops selling its famous pralines during the summer months and only reintroduces them in the autumn.

The delicate chocolates can be damaged by the heat, so they are withdrawn from shops until the weather cools in September. They’re the only chocolates on the Czech market protected in this way from a loss of quality by the manufacturers.

But it’s no wonder that Ferrero takes care with its flagship praline. The mixture of milk chocolate and hazelnuts is a national treasure and a token of pride in Italy. The company’s other pralines are withdrawn from sale too: the Mon Chéri dark chocolate and cherry liqueur, and the Pocket Coffee combination of fine chocolate and 100% Arabica coffee filling.

“Freshness is all-important for pralines,” says Kristina Baraćová, brand manager for Ferrero in the Czech Republic. “We only use the finest quality ingredients in Ferrero Rocher and our other pralines, and because we withdraw them from sale in the summer months, customers can always be confident that our chocolates are in top condition.”

The same emphasis on quality goes for Ferrero’s other much-loved products, which include Nutella and Kinder chocolate eggs and bars.

A family business

Despite the sheer scale of Ferrero’s global business, the company is still a family-run enterprise. Founded by Pietro Ferrero and his son Michele in post-war Italy, the company achieved success in Europe and then across the world over the following decades.

Today, the business is run by Giovanni Ferrero, Michele’s son. The company is still headquartered in its birthplace of Alba, Italy.

Ferrero Rocher has been sold in Czech shops since the 1990s. The popularity of the pralines forms part of a booming market for chocolate; data from the Czech Statistical Office showed the consumption of chocolate increasing across the board from 2009 to 2018, from chocolate bars and confectionery to cocoa powder.

Czechs have an increasingly sweet tooth, but the sustainability of chocolate production is an important topic. Traceability of ingredients and ethical production are especially important for major producers like Ferrero; after all, a significant portion of the world’s hazelnut supply goes into the company’s products, from Ferrero Rocher to Nutella.

As such, Ferrero sources all of its cocoa, nuts, and other ingredients from sustainable and responsible suppliers. Traceability back to the farm level has been reported by Ferrero for over 95% of its cocoa supply volume; a remarkable achievement for a company of such size. And its commitment to good business ethics goes beyond the products themselves, extending to updated packaging for the pralines that are now returning to Czech stores.

Eco-friendly chocolate

New eco-friendly packaging is being rolled out worldwide for Ferrero Rocher, starting with the most popular 16-piece and 30-piece boxes. The new boxes are made from polypropylene to enable easier recycling, and the updated design uses significantly less plastic: 40% less for the 16-piece boxes, and 38% less for the 30-piece option. They also have a 30% lower carbon footprint than their predecessors, and when recycled their carbon footprint drops by 70% compared to the previous box.

Packaging options for the Mon Chéri and Pocket Coffee brands, containing just 4 or 5 pralines are the perfect personal treat for a friend or loved one on their special day.

The changes are part of Ferrero’s drive to make 100% of its packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. The target is ambitious, but the company already hit a record high of 83% last year.

Other targets include a goal to reduce virgin plastic usage by 10% and to increase the use of recycled plastics to 12% by 2025. At the same time, Ferrero sources 84% of its energy in manufacturing plants from renewable sources, and 16 of its factories now run entirely on renewable energy.

Whether it’s a gift for a name day, birthday, or Christmas, or a treat just for yourself, the return of Ferrero Rocher to Czech stores this September is a guarantee of freshness amid the company’s ongoing efforts to make our love of chocolate sustainable. It also marks an unlikely seasonal food event in the Czech shopping calendar.