Josef Zotter

The Climb

The trade disciplines came first in Graz, where Josef Zotter worked as an apprentice chef, waiter, and confectioner. Those roles cut across service and making, building an approach shaped by precision, rhythm, and attention to process. He later became manager at a pastry shop in Graz, a period that sharpened the habits of exactness and patience that sit behind the finished work. The through-line is clear: hands-on, methodical, and grounded in making by hand. Since 1999, Josef has been the founder, chocolatier, and organic farmer of Zotter Schokolade, a combination that defines the scope of the business as much as the product. The title covers more than confectionery. It includes invention, farming, and a refusal to treat chocolate as a fixed category. At Zotter Schokolade, the work links discipline and experimentation in the same operation.

Today

He is the founder of Zotter Chocolate in Riegersburg, Styria, Austria.

Career - founder, Zotter Schokolade, Riegersburg, Styria (1999–present) - chocolatier, Zotter Schokolade, Riegersburg, Styria - organic farmer, Zotter Schokolade, Riegersburg, Styria - apprentice chef, waiter, and confectioner - manager, pastry shop, Graz

Signature

Josef's signature dishes include hand-scooped chocolate. The phrase names the method plainly: chocolate formed with the hand still present in the finished piece, rather than treated as an anonymous industrial product.

In Their Words “We turned the horse around in the normal way: start with improvements to the producer, fair trade, then move into organic agriculture.” “I developed the idea that much more must be possible with chocolate.”

Recognition

The line “I developed the idea that much more must be possible with chocolate” reads as a working principle rather than a slogan. It frames chocolate as a field for expansion, not a closed category, and it explains the direction of the enterprise without leaving the trade. The other statement ties that idea to sequence and method: “We turned the horse around in the normal way: start with improvements to the producer, fair trade, then move into organic agriculture.” In that order, the approach starts with the producer and moves through fair trade to organic agriculture, making the logic of the work explicit.

FAQ What is Josef Zotter's current role? Josef Zotter is Cook. Where did Josef Zotter work before? Josef Zotter's earlier career included pastry shop. What recognition has Josef Zotter received? ORGANIC, EMAS.