The biggest chocolate factory in the world is Belgian (2024)

FAQs

The biggest chocolate factory in the world is Belgian? ›

The biggest chocolate factory in Belgium is the Barry Callebaut chocolate factory, located in Wieze, a small town in the Flemish region of Belgium. Barry Callebaut is the world's leading chocolate manufacturer, producing chocolate for many of the world's most famous chocolate brands.

The Barry Callebaut Company began with the Callebaut family back in 1850. This highly entrepreneurial family founded a chocolate company in 1911 to add to its existing dairy and brewery.

Barry Callebaut AG is a Swiss-Belgian cocoa processor and chocolate manufacturer, with an average annual production of 2.3 million tonnes of cocoa & chocolate (fiscal year 2021/2022).

When Belgium colonized the Congo, they stepped up their chocolate-making game. It was here that they discovered a huge number of cocoa beans. Their ruler King Leopold III quickly took advantage of this, and Belgium became the main trader of cocoa and chocolate.

We examine the unique and delicious reasons Belgian chocolate is the best in the world, from its serendipitous history to its one-of-a-kind recipe.

With 2.2 million tonnes of cocoa in 2022, Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer, accounting for a third of the global total. For many reasons, the cocoa trade in Côte d'Ivoire and Western Africa has been controversial. Often, farmers make about 5% of the retail price of a chocolate bar, and earn $1.20 each day.

From Godiva to Leonidas, from Côte d'Or to Neuhaus: Belgium has a wide variety of top chocolate brands made by the world's finest chocolatiers. The Flanders region is often referred to as the capital of chocolate. Especially since two of the globe's biggest chocolate factories, Callebaut and Puratos, are located here.

As headquarters of the European Union, Brussels is known throughout the world as the 'Capital of Europe'. But it should be known as the 'Chocolate Capital' of the world as well.

The four top chocolate-producing countries are Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Poland. Belgium is one of the largest producers, and much of the chocolate is still made by hand.

Bruges — one of Europe's most delightful medieval towns — is also a chocoholic's Mecca, especially along Katelijnestraat, which sports a half-dozen shops within a few steps. Locals rarely buy chocolate along here (as the prices are marked up for tourists), but this is one convenient place to shop.

Do Belgians eat chocolate? ›

The average Belgian eats eight kilograms of chocolate per year, the third most in the world. One in five Belgians eat chocolate every day and two in five consume it every week, and more than nine in ten eat it at least once a month.

The answer lies in the quality of the ingredients used. Belgian chocolate is made with only the finest cocoa beans. These beans are roasted to perfection and ground into a smooth paste. Then, they are combined with pure, fresh cream to create a decadent ganache.

Chocolate's 4,000-year history began in ancient Mesoamerica, present day Mexico. It's here that the first cacao plants were found. The Olmec, one of the earliest civilizations in Latin America, were the first to turn the cacao plant into chocolate.

Belgian chocolate will typically have a higher cocoa content. So we've learned that Swiss chocolate tends to be creamier and smoother on the palette.

Meurisse — Belgium First Chocolate Co - Est. 1845. Building on our ancestor's artistry, we are dedicated to once again craft the most remarkable chocolate.

Hershey's U.S. sales topped $7 billion out of around $8 billion global sales in 2019. However, Mars, a privately-held company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is by far the world's leading confectionery company with up to $37 billion in annual revenue.

According to self-described fair trade proponents including Ghanaian cooperative Kuapa Kokoo, "Big Chocolate" companies are Mondelez (which owns Cadbury), Mars, Nestlé, and The Hershey Company. Together these companies process about 12% of the world's 3 million tons of cocoa each year.

Which companies are the largest players in the Chocolate Production industry in the US? Top companies in the Chocolate Production industry in the US, based on the revenue generated within the industry, includes Mars Inc., Hershey Co and Ferrero Group.

Mars Wrigley Company has created some of the world's most famous chocolate: M&Ms, Galaxy, Bounty, Maltesers, Snickers, and its namesake chocolate bar Mars. The multinational confectionery giant is not only the world's top chocolate company, but the sixth largest privately-held firm in the US, according to Forbes.