Belgian chocolate maker Guylian has managed to reach eighty million euro in turnover last year and to continue growing, it will invest nearly seven million euro in a new factory location and production line.
Strengthen its local presence
The Belgian chocolate brand’s popularity is continuously on the rise, with sales in 120 countries. It has a main office in Sint-Niklaas, but it also has four international offices and five chocolate bars (in Australia, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea).
Korean group Lotte is the company’s owner since 2008 and Mieke Callebaut has just been appointed as its CEO. Despite a Korean owner, the chocolate company operates independently: “We create our own plans, Lotte approves them and we execute them. Obviously, Lotte keeps track of our growth, profit and turnover, as long as we are profitable and keep growing, we will remain an independent entity”, she told Belgian magazine Ondernemen.
To solidify its local position in the region around Sint-Niklaas, Guylian will invest 6.8 million euro into a new factory location and a new production line. Both should be fully functional by mid-2017.
