Valrhona is a French chocolate manufacturer based in the small town of Tain L’Hermitage in Hermitage, a wine growing district near Lyon. Valrhona  produces 10 tons of product per day as compared to 100 – 150 tons for a large, European manufacturer.

Known in the industry as a supplier of high quality raw chocolate for chocolatiers they took the name Valrhona (from valley and Rhone) in the early 1950s. Valrhona has been producing fine chocolate couvertures since 1922.

Couverture is easiest to understand as a coating, shell or covering.  But in reality the topic is as complex as making chocolate is.

Famous with chefs the world over, Valrhona formerly known as La Chocolaterie de Vivarais – was founded by Monsieur Guironnet, a pastry chef from the Rhone valley in 1924.

Valrhona focuses mainly on top-quality luxury chocolate marketed for professional as well as for private consumption.  Though considered one of the finest chocolate makers in the world, it is roughly in line price wise with Godiva and Neuhaus.

To maintain their top quality chocolates their buyer searches the cocoa-cultivating nations for special cocoa beans.  If a country grows 500,000 tons of beans in a year but only 50 tons are good, it is Valrhona’s mission to find those 50 tons and leave the rest behind.

Valrhona pioneered the production of high quality chocolate from carefully controlled sources and started the trend of featuring the percentage of the cocoa solids in chocolate.

With the introduction of their ‘grand cru’ chocolates in the eighties they led the way towards chocolate from known origins and quality beans.

The company also maintains the Ecole du Grand Chocolat.  This is a school for professional chefs with a focus on chocolate-based dishes and pastries.

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