Belgian company opens Ben Tre cocoa processing plant
(VOV) - The Puratos Grand Place Vietnam Company, part of the Belgian Puratos Group, inaugurated its Ben Tre-based cocoa processing plant and cocoa cultivation development centre on November 14.
Covering five hectares in Giao Long Industrial Park, the US$8 million plant has an annual cocoa bean processing capacity of 5,000 tonnes.
The facility is expected to process about 1,000 tonnes of cocoa bean for its Binh Duong province chocolate production plant during the first year of its operation.
The new cocoa development centre will assist local farmers and promote sustainable cocoa cultivation in the Mekong Delta region.
The company’s operations are guided by a holistic “from cocoa beans to finished chocolate” philosophy. Puratos Grand Place Vietnam Managing Director Gricha Safarian said the plant’s inauguration is one of the final steps in bringing this philosophy to fruition.
Ben Tre’s approximately 10,000 ha of land devoted to cocoa cultivation is the most in Vietnam, accounting for 50 percent of the national total and producing one-third of Vietnam’s cocoa output.