The European Candy Kettle Club has named the 2019 winner of the European Candy Kettle Award — Austria-based Zotter Schokoladen Manufaktur GmbH, which is run by Josef Zotter. 

 

The family business is famous for unusual chocolate creations, such as their newest creation “Bread Break," a chocolate flavored with old bread spirit. They also are known for hand-scooped quality, organic, Fairtrade and sustainably-produced chocolates. 

 

Thee company uses 200 tons of cocoa beans and 150 tons of cocoa butter, which are processed into 646 tons of chocolate each year, and they have about 200 employees. 

 

And Zotter’s Choco Shop Theatre — where visitors can observe the production live, experience how chocolate is made from the bean onwards and try, at various tasting stations, intermediate products such as milling powder and the finished bars — has 270,000 visitors every year. 

 

The company’s products are sold worldwide, with a focus on German-speaking countries, including Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

 

Zotter will be honored during a ceremony in the fall at his production facility in Austria. 

 

The ECKC award was founded in 1973 by the French chocolatier Guy Urbain, and Don Gussow, founder of the American Candy Kettle Association as well as Candy Industry Magazine. Its purpose is to support the development of great and innovative sweets and confectionery all over Europe and its members include 30 European machinery and ingredient suppliers. 

 

To win the award the companies have to have outstanding product quality, development in production, research and technology, performance in sales and marketing as well as international cooperation.

 

The club’s members include industry representatives from major supplier companies, including: Aasted/Denmark, Bosch/Germany, Bühler/Switzerland, Chr. Hansen/Denmark, Confitech/Italy, Duyvis Wiener/Netherlands, Hänsel Processing/Germany, Sollich/Germany, Tanis Confectionery/Netherlands, Winkler & Dünnebier/Germany.

 

And the list of winners, which dates back to 1973, includes some of the most important names in the European sweets and confectionery industry such as: Ferrero/Italy, Lindt & Sprüngli/Switzerland, Fazer/Finland, Katjes/Germany, Loacker/Italy, Krupskaya/Russia, Valor/Spain, Colian/Poland and Valrhona/France. 

 

For the full list of winners and more information about the award, the club members and the events visit the ECKC website.