Cargill strengthens gourmet chocolate offerings with 3.5 million-euro investment
18.06.2020 10:50 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
Cargill has invested 3.5 million Euro in its site in Kalmthout (Belgium) to increase its capabilities for producing gourmet chocolate. The investment adds a fifth gourmet production line and new chocolate tanks within the existing facility, providing greater flexibility in production as well as adding 12 new jobs locally. «This investment strengthens the extended gourmet chocolate offerings that we acquired with Cargill’s purchase of Smet in 2019,» says Inge Demeyere, Managing Director of Cargill’s chocolate activities in Europe. «With the complementary offering of Veliche™ gourmet couvertures and Smet decorations, we are able to provide additional choice and meet increased demand in the gourmet segment, including our industrial customers.» The investment provides access to enhanced innovation capabilities and an extended customer network. The new chocolate tanks will also allow for improved dedicated storage and dedicated piping to provide full flexibility to customer requirements. «With Smet, a leading Belgium-based supplier of chocolate and sweets decoration, we have worked hard to uphold our customer’s trust, ensuring deep customer intimacy and high speed-to-market with new decoration technology, enhanced production capabilities and a wide-ranging product portfolio,» Demeyere continues. Cargill’s processing plants in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, the Netherlands, UK and the USA are in full compliance with the highest food safety standards. To secure a good quality and sustainable supply of cocoa beans, Cargill has its own cocoa bean sourcing operations for buying, handling and exporting of cocoa beans in Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia. Presence in all the leading producing countries allows Cargill to oversee the supply chain from beans at origin to cocoa and chocolate products on its customers’ doorsteps. In addition, extensive market research and analysis proves to be a source of valuable information to customers.
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