House of Chocolate®
FROM IDEA TO EXECUTION
A unique center for inspiration, co-creation & innovation
Cargill’s state-of-the-art House of Chocolate® (opened in June 2022) is located adjacent to our main chocolate production facility in Mouscron (Belgium). It is the perfect home for inimitable chocolate experiences with our Cargill, Veliche Gourmet™, Smet, Leman and Vanova® brands.
At this unique center for inspiration, co-creation and innovation both gourmet and industrial customers can embark on an expedition into the world of chocolate. This is where we collaborate & co-create to transform ideas into surprising new products, faster and more efficiently, with the help of the brightest and most creative minds in the business.
Three functions under one roof
House of Chocolate® consists of an inspirational high-tech chocolate experience center, an adjacent pilot plant, a sensory expertise center and additional creative workspace for the European technical service team:
- Chocolate Experience Center: Bundles Cargill’s cocoa & chocolate expertise to inspire, co-create and innovate with customers and partners. The platform for co-creation to enhance customers’ product decisions, and increase speed to market for both gourmet and large-scale applications.
- Pilot Plant: Replicates real production conditions on a small scale and easily produce samples for testing and trial before going into large-scale manufacturing. Makes batch manufacturing possible for anything from 5kg to 1 ton cycles.
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Sensory Expertise Center: Home to Cargill’s largest European cocoa and chocolate, world class sensory center. Outfitted with state-of-the-art high-tech equipment, it allows for a wide range of sensory testing on anything from chocolate, coatings and fillings, to ice cream or biscuits.
The House of Chocolate in a nutshell
- All-in-one experience and development process; from inspiration through to innovation and training, and finally production.
- Leverages the co-creation model with an end-to-end process on a unified platform, to deliver high efficiency and greater speed to market.
- Bean-to-bar experience that delivers expertise at every stage; from the origination of cocoa to branded gourmet chocolate.
- Built alongside our production site in Mouscron with the flexibility to meet current and future market needs, including sugar reduced, hazelnut, organic, and much more.
- Clear end-to-end concept from the latest creations from our gourmet chefs, to manufacturing solutions in accordance with consumer trends.
- The kitchens will accommodate host trials and tastings, so our customers and partners can explore all possibilities under the guidance of our chefs and expert teams.
- Small quantity samples can be produced at the adjacent pilot plant, replicating the manufacturing conditions of industrial lines, before going into large scale production.
- Customers can interact and co-create alongside our chocolate engineers in an optimal setting to explore the multiple dimensions of cocoa and chocolate manufacturing.
- Close proximity to our Vilvoorde Global Innovation Center for food ingredients, will allow customers to take advantage of our expertise across applications.
- Cutting-edge technology used to reduce the site’s ecological footprint, including the use of geothermal energy to significantly reduce energy consumption.
The 7,000 square meter House of Chocolate® complex enables customers to experience the convenience of an all-in-one development process at a single location.
Staffed by a team of more than 40 chocolate engineers, House of Chocolate® serves as the hub for all of Cargill’s chocolate, coating and filling activities.
After 2 years of development House of Chocolate officially opened its doors in June 2022. Industrial and gourmet customers are now able to embark on “expedition chocolate.”