Belcolade expands with two production lines

Belcolade, the Belgian chocolate brand made by family firm Puratos, is expanding its site in Erembodegem (Aalst, Belgium). Two production lines are being added – one for the production of liquid chocolate, and one for packaged chocolate. The warehouse is also being enlarged.

The expansion represents an investment of €21 million. The existing buildings will be 7,500m2 larger and will accommodate new production lines and a spacious and modern warehouse area. The enlarged site will cover 36,000m2. In a first phase, the additional line for liquid chocolate will provide 15% extra capacity. The additional line for packaged goods will increase capacity by 30%. In the long term, this will increase Belcolade’s total capacity by 50%.

“The centralisation and expansion of the warehouse will not only enable us to produce more and deliver our products even faster to our customers; the expansion of the production lines also means we can respond even more flexibly when asked to make chocolate with specifications”, says Mr. Luc De Norre, Site Manager at Belcolade.

“With this investment, we are continuing to build the future of real Belgian chocolate”, says Mr. Eddy Van Belle, Chairman of the Board of Puratos Group and one of the driving forces behind Belcolade. “We made a conscious decision 25 years ago to produce chocolate in Belgium and we want to keep it that way in the future too. Our continued investments and innovations ensure that Belcolade continues to grow.”

Puratos expects to be hiring an extra twenty people to work at the site.

The renovated and expanded warehouse will be put into operation in late 2014, and the new production lines will be operational by mid-2015.