Generation change at Ritter Sport
Marli Hoppe-Ritter and Alfred T. Ritter retire
At the turn of the year, Marli Hoppe-Ritter and her brother Alfred T. Ritter stepped down from the chocolate manufacturer's advisory board. Both had been members of the strategic management body of the family business founded by their grandparents since 1978. As Chairman of the Management Board, Alfred T. Ritter was also responsible for the operational business from 2005 to 2014.
Marli Hoppe-Ritter and her brother Alfred T. Ritter retire from the Advisory Board
Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG
"Marli Hoppe-Ritter and Alfred T. Ritter have shaped our company for decades," explains CEO Andreas Ronken. "Their aspiration to reconcile economic success with social and ecological responsibility guides our daily actions."
The first Ritter Sport cocoa program was created back in 1990 on the initiative of Marli Hoppe-Ritter. Today, the Cacao-Nica program serves as a model for the company's partnership-based cooperation with cocoa farmers in all countries from which Ritter sources cocoa.
In the Chocolate Scorecard of the Australian initiative Be Slavery Free, Ritter was one of only three medium-sized to large companies worldwide to be recognized as a "Leader in policy and practice" in 2024. The Cacao-Nica program and the personal commitment of Marli Hoppe-Ritter form the foundation for this.
Alfred T. Ritter, who was named "Eco-Manager of the Year" in 1997, and his conviction that only a sustainable company is fit for the future, for example, set the course for Ritter to not only be a climate-neutral company today, but also to commit to reducing its emissions by 42 percent by 2030 compared to 2021 as part of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
"Marli Hoppe-Ritter and Alfred T. Ritter stand for entrepreneurship that always has the next generation in mind. This is the only way to make long-term investments, such as in the development of our own cocoa farm El Cacao," emphasizes Andreas Ronken, who has been with the company for almost 25 years and works closely with the family. "I feel committed to this way of thinking."
Marli Hoppe-Ritter and Alfred T. Ritter are handing over their duties as members of the Advisory Board to their sons Tim Hoppe and Moritz Ritter. This means that the fourth generation of the Ritter family business is taking over responsibility.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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