Candy Industry January 2012 : Page-21
The European Candy Kettle Club’s 2011 winner, Pedro Lopez Lopez of Valor Chocolates, stays faithful to his company’s legacy of producing beautiful bean-to-bar chocolates by taking advantage of technology and tradition. By Bernard Pacyniak M ost family-business executives would agree that they are, well, wedded to their work. Few, however, can claim they actually held their wedding reception where they work. In Pedro Lopez Lopez’s case, he didn’t have any options. The managing director and fourth-generation head of Pedro Lopez Lopez, managing director of Valor Chocolates and the 2011 European Candy Kettle Club award recipient expresses his gratitude to ;management team members and employees for achieving the honor. (Left) Scores of 250-gram bars with Marcona almonds head for packaging at the company’s facility in Villajoyosa, Spain. Valor Chocolates explains that he and his then wife-to-be, Maite, had watched their guest list expand to a staggering 500-plus circle of family and friends. “We were in the process of building our new headquarters and production facility at the time,” he explains. “The basement had just been completed. When we sought a place to hold the wedding reception, we realized that the only place large enough to accommodate all of our guests was the basement.” It takes a man of vision to transform a concrete slab into a subterranean “sweetland.” Sure enough, come wedding day, chocolates greeted guests at nearly every turn. Even when the fi nal guest count topped 600, there was plenty of food, drink, music, chocolate and, most importantly, room to go around. Lopez’s ability to recognize opportunities in the face of overwhelming challenges has stood him and Valor well over the years. As this year’s European Candy Kettle Club winner, Lopez welcomes the recognition, but not for himself. Rather, he sees the honor directed toward his team of managers and employees, validating what the group has been able to accomplish during this most recent downturn. Despite a global economic crisis, despite an unprecendented surge in commodity prices affecting cocoa and sugar, and despite retailer pressures on pricing, Valor Chocolates has posted 7% annual sales gains during the past three years. Sales for fi scal year 2011 topped € 100 million ($136 million). At a Glance Valor Chocolates Headquarters: Villajoyosa, Spain Sales: €100 million ($136 million) for fi scal year 2011 Employees: 180 Plant: 17,000 sq. meters (two moulding lines, two praline lines, panning units, chocolate drink line, powder line). Output: 11,000 tons annually Brand: Valor, Puro, Autor Types of products: Chocolate bars, pralines, cocoa powder, couvertures, chocolate chips. Product breakout: Chocolate bars – 62%; drinking chocolate – 14% pralines – 13.5%; couvertures – 7, remainder – 3.5%. Retail shops: 39 (located throughout Spain) Management: Pedro Lopez Mayor, honorary chairman; Pedro Lopez Lopez, ceo and general manager; Valeriano Lopez Adrover, cfo; Juan Fullana Verdera, marketing director. www.candyindustry.com January 2012 CANDY INDUSTRY 21
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