Chocolateria Cris - Hedona

With the project "Chocolateria Cris", the Association of Persons with Disabilities Križevci founded the social enterprise Hedona whose main activity is the production of chocolate and chocolate pralines and employed six people, four of them with disabilities. Today it has 18 employees, nine are people with disabilities. The basic goal is to employ people with disabilities realizing one of the fundamental human rights, the right to work. The company is focused on the socially useful work, the well-being of each employee and the continuous possibility of employee and company development.

Chocolateria Cris – Hedona fights against poverty by integrating people with disabilities into the labour market. People with disabilities are often excluded from formal employment. Employing people with disabilities prevents poverty, boosts their self-confidence and inclusion in the community.

Chocolateria Cris – Hedona was founded in 2013 as a social enterprise by the Križevci Association of People with Disabilities. We use social entrepreneurship as a new form of business to promote social inclusion and employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

The participants of this project are the employees of Chocolateria Cris – Hedona: Half of our 18 employees have a disability. We also exchange knowledge, experiences, and resources with the Križevci Association of People with Disabilities.

Chocolateria Cris – Hedona employs people with disabilities and helps them access one of their fundamental human rights – the right to work. We are also a successful local promotor of social entrepreneurship as a new type of business in Croatia. Our business was awarded six different prizes and recognitions, including the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) Award for Social Cohesion.

Chocolateria Cris – Hedona is an innovative, practical, long-lasting, and sustainable approach to solve unemployment for people with disabilities. Our project can be transferred to another social environment and region; it can be applied internationally to any country.