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MAROU formalizes its Corporate Social Responsibility policies with the help of CCIFV

Marou Chocolate was founded in 2011. “We always cared strongly about the values carried by our brand and before we launched our business we had a deep conversation about what sort of company we wanted to have” said co-founder Vincent Mourou.

Environmental and social concerns have deep roots in Marou Chocolate founders’ mind. In the past 6 years, the company has grown from a start-up in the founders’ kitchen to a company with over 60 employees and a supply network spanning dozens of cacao farmers throughout the south of Vietnam. “We’ve grown so fast, and even though things have always been very clear in our heads - we always try to treat our employees, our suppliers and the environment with the greatest respect - but we realized the time had come to audit and formalize our business practices, said co-founder Samuel Maruta, we also think that giving greater visibility to our CSR achievements is good marketing”.

Marou Chocolate has been working with Clemence Aron at the French-Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFV), who carried out a diagnosis of Marou Chocolate’s social, environmental and governance performances.

Aurelie Cornujols, in charge of CSR at Marou declared that “this business evaluation was a solid base to understand our social responsibilities strengths and weaknesses and to define steps to integrate CSR values into our business culture”.

Beyond its expertise, CCIFV also offered to establish an action plan to enhance Marou’s social and environmental strategy and to accompany the company for 6 months to help develop partnerships and facilitate communication about its CSR policies.

By the end of 2017, Marou Chocolate aims to publish its first CSR report. The report will show the social and environmental impacts of the company across the full value chain and set specific CSR improvement goals.

Article by Samuel Maruta & Aurelie Cornujols

More info about Marou Chocolate

More info about the CCIFV CSR Committee