Corporate Social Responsibility
Sustainability is more than just a contemporary catchphrase for Manner – our company lives by it for already more than 120 years. Even the foundation of the company in 1890 has been for a social cause. Back then, Josef Manner was not content with the quality of chocolate and was considering producing it himself.
Employees and Leadership
Employees at Manner
The main assets of the company are our highly qualified employees. Since more than 120 years, the Josef Manner & Comp. AG persists as a traditional Austrian family business. The long-term success of the company is based on the smooth cooperation between many talented people with different talents. Manner does take the social responsibility very serious, in order to ensure and create jobs in Austria for the future. With this vision, Manner is creating a working environment in which every employee feels like being a part of the big Manner family.
Values at Manner
The top priorities within our defined values are the people. This value inside our “value pyramid” is the foundation on which all the other values are based on.
We support and encourage our employees – most important for that are professional and social qualifications. Our employees assume responsibility, focus on goals and show high commitment as well as discipline. Our managers provide the best example possible for people to follow. Working as a team is one of the essential preconditions for our visions, as well as cross-functional manager training integrated in everyday work. We want to provide a motivating, achievement-oriented, remunerated work environment for our employees.
Equal pay for men and woman is as a matter of course very important for our company.
We also focus our attention on the training and education of our apprentices. There are 16 apprenticeship places with 5 different occupational areas (IT-technician, electrical installations engineer, mechatronics technician, confectioner, food technician). Our apprentices participate in international exchange programs as well as extracurricular workshops (e.g. personality guidance). The apprentices get support in the form of free lunches and bonus for outstanding scholastic achievements. Manner was selected as “excellent in teaching” in 2010 for those efforts.
Our former employees, who are retired now, have a very close relationship with Manner. We appreciate their commitment and support it.
The health and well-being of our employees are important issues which we feel very strongly about. The support of sports activities has a long tradition at Manner. For our employees, we enable a free participation and at the same time support philanthropic events like Bussiness-to-row rowing competitions and Red Nose Run.
Environment and Sustainability
Quality has always been a cornerstone of our company and this has not changed since today. In 2011, Manner started a major CSR offensive with focus on sustainability for palm oil and cocoa.
Manner and UTZ for sustainable cocoa
The Manner AG is the largest confectionery manufacturer in Austria. Due to the high quality requirements, all of the chocolate is produced in-house, beginning with the roasting of the cocoa beans. Because of that, social and ecological sustainability regarding the cocoa is very important.
As a processor of raw material like cocoa, we condemn any kind of slavery or child labor. To ensure, that the cocoa which we use in our products meets our social and ecological principals, Manner is a member of UTZ Certified since 2012. UTZ is one of the world’s largest sustainability programs for coffee, cocoa and tee. The goal of UTZ regarding the cocoa is to provide an efficient certification and sustainability program for a socially responsible and environmentally friendly production of cocoa. This program meets both the requirements of the manufacturer and the market. Since 2012, our company obliged to buy UTZ certified cocoa for all the produced wafers of the brand Manner. The audition process of our manufacturing sites has been completed in the first quarter of 2012. The Casali chocolate banana range "FAIRTRADE" has been certified since 2015 and can also bear the seal.
Until 2020, it is planned to cover the total demand of cocoa beans for the products of Manner with sustainable cocoa.
Further information at www.utzcertified.org
Utilization of sustainable palm oil
We cannot abstain from the usage of palm oil for the manufacturing of our confectionary. Palm oil does have technical and sensorial qualities that many other oils do not have. For Manner it is important to use palm oil, which was examined via a certification process about his sustainability in order to avoid negative social and ecological after-effects.
We can confirm, that the amount of palm oil our company obtains, does originate directly from certified European producers, which are all RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certified members. The palm oil is acquired without any intermediaries.
Society and Culture
Manner Cooperation with SOS-Kinderdorf at the Ivory Coast
In November 2013, Manner started his cooperation with the SOS children’s village (a children’s charity) and provided as a start for the cooperation 110,000 Euros. Manner will build a new house for a family at the children’s village in Abobo Gare / Abidjan and also pay for the education and support of the family and the children living in the village. The African country was selected on purpose, since Manner receives the cacao for the chocolate production from the Ivory Coast. Our company got a detailed idea about the project directly on the spot and also got to know the family personally, which will be supported in the future. Manner will on one hand fund the house construction but on the other hand also sponsor the children’s education. The personal contact with the family is very important. It is also essential to know, how the supported family is doing and also trace the progress of the children.
Relation to Austria
In order to establish a connection with Austria for this cooperation, Manner focuses also on a second priority at the children’s village in Stübing / Styria. The village, which exists since 50 years, is in the process of being renovated. On one hand, money has been collected at the Manner shops. On the other hand, there has been a sale organized with furniture that was not needed any more after moving into the new Manner office. The achieved amount was doubled by Manner, so the company could contribute as much as possible to the replacement of the furniture at the children’s village in Styria. With those projects, Manner is not only possible to support a family at the Ivory Coast but also contributes to a charity in Austria.
Manner and its trademark St Stephan's cathedral
For over 30 years, stonemasons using traditional methods of their craft, are making sure that St Stephan's cathedral in Vienna is well-maintained. For over 30 years Manner has taken over the wage and ancillary wage costs for a stonemason: a sign of the close relationship between the historical construction and the cult brand. For Dr. Carl Manner, grandson of the company´s founder, this is a very special relationship, "The cathedral is holding a protective hand over Manner" – and the company that has used the Viennese landmark since 1889, is returning the favor accordingly.
Information about the cathedral building lodge
- The cathedral building lodge has been in existence since the 14th century.
- In its current form, it has existed since the middle of the 19th century - that is more than 150 years.
- Currently, around 20 employees work there, more than a half are stonemasons.
- The cathedral building lodge considers itself a preserver of old craft traditions (stone mason craftsmanship).
- The most modern technology is also used, like, for example, laser technology.
- The annual budget amounts to €2.5 mil.
- Around 10 % of this comes from the state
- About 20 % come from the revenue of the lift to the Pummerin (bell in the north tower), the rest is financed by donations.
- Manner is the greatest donator!
Quality and Market
Product quality and quality management
Quality means that our customers can enjoy Manner products of the same high quality that they have always appreciated at any time.
Did you know that the recipe for the Original Neapolitan wafer from Manner was not changed since the invention by Josef Manner I. in 1898? The same holds true for many other successful products from the assortment of Manner such as Casali Rum-Kokos and Napoli Dragee Keksi, just to name a few.
Best confectionary indulgence
Brand products from the Manner company stand for the best confectionery indulgence. However, every luxury article is only as good as the sum of the individual ingredients, which is the reason for us placing importance on selected, high-quality ingredients. All raw materials are submitted to a detailed check on delivery to our quality control laboratories before they can be released for production. Our philosophy is to enter into a long-term fair business partnership with our suppliers to be able to guarantee consistently high quality.
Naturally the quality of our products is also checked during the continuous production process: for example, samples are taken on a daily basis from each production batch and are checked and evaluated by a trained team of tasters. You can well imagine that a great number of people wish to join this team of tasters!
The continuous improvement of our high-class standards is one of the cornerstones of our enterprise success and for this reason we constantly set ourselves higher goals. Since 2005 the Manner company has been the proud owner of the particularly stringent quality standard "IFS" (International Food Standard). This standard assumes high safety regulations and hygiene regulations and is regularly checked by external consultants. With the extension of the certificate in 2019 we could achieve the foundation level for both Manner locations.