Cargill Expands Gourmet Chocolate Production with 3.5m Euro Investment

Global corporation Cargill has invested €3.5 million to expand its facility in Kalmthout, Belgium for the production of gourmet chocolate. The investment will see the addition of a fifth gourmet production line and new chocolate tanks, increasing flexibility in production as well as 12 new local job positions. “This investment strengthens the extended gourmet chocolate offerings that we acquired with Cargill’s purchase of Smet in 2019,” said 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.” “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 continued. The expansion is set to be complete by the end of 2020.