The Barry Callebaut Group has agreed to acquire Europe Chocolate Co., a Belgian-privately owned B2B manufacturer of chocolate specialties and decorations. This enhances Callebaut’s value and allows it to offer tailor-made solutions with ECC’s advanced in-house technology, said the company.
"We have a long-standing relationship with ECC and strongly believe in the growth opportunities of highly customized industrial specialty chocolate ingredients,” said Wim Debedts, vice president food manufacturers, Western Europe at Barry Callebaut, in a statement. “The acquisition will help us to further broaden our market position thanks to ECC’s unique know-how and its highly flexible manufacturing facility in Belgium."
ECC has been manufacturing specialty chocolate ingredients since 1993.
"I am very proud of the specialty chocolate business we have built from scratch over the past close to 30 years,” said Eric Van Tichelen, managing director of ECC, in a statement. “Joining the Barry Callebaut family will enable and accelerate ECC’s growth with access to new customers, new geographies via a broad sales network, helping to accentuate our unique proposition."
In addition, Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker has returned to private ownership after being purchased for an undisclosed sum from The Hershey Co., where it has been held since 2005. Paul Cherrie will serve as the new CEO for the company, joined by Ray Major as master chocolate maker, Wade Latz and Peter Lord as engineers, and Chris Spirko as chief financial officer.
“We are excited to take Scharffen Berger back to its private ownership roots. Embracing a founder mentality once again, we can infuse energy, passion, and a deep love and respect for the brand back into everything we do," said Cherrie, in a statement. "Scharffen Berger has a rich history and an amazing quality heritage. We are honored to be able to carry forward founder John Scharffenberger's vision of making chocolate with the soul of a fine wine."
Original founder John Scharffenberger will work closely in an advisor position with Cherrie and the team to ensure the quality and nuance of the brand's original formulation are upheld, delivering complex, cacao-forward fine chocolate for baking, pairing, and eating.
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