Cocoa product manufacturer Barry Callebaut Group has agreed to acquire Belgium-based Europe Chocolate Company (ECC) for an undisclosed amount.

This deal expands Barry Callebaut’s specialities capabilities and enables it to cater to the growing demand of food manufacturers for customised speciality chocolate and decorations.

ECC’s integration expands Barry Callebaut’s specialised chocolate moulding capabilities and enables it to provide tailor-made solutions due to ECC’s advanced in-house developed technology.

Since 1993, ECC has been manufacturing speciality chocolate ingredients. It produces a range of industrial speciality chocolate and decorations in several taste and colour variations, including batons, curls, chunks, leaves, and shavings.

Due to its flexible production setup, it can cater to a variety of customers such as biscuit, bakery, dairy, ice-cream, confectionery, and foodservice industries.

ECC operates a chocolate factory and a warehouse in Malle, Belgium.

Barry Callebaut Food Manufacturers Western Europe vice-president Wim Debedts said: “We have a long-standing relationship with ECC and strongly believe in the growth opportunities of highly customised industrial speciality chocolate ingredients. 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 managing director Eric Van Tichelen said: “I am very proud of the speciality chocolate business we have built from scratch over the past close to 30 years. 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.”

The deal is expected to complete in the coming months and comes after Barry Callebaut opened its chocolate factory in Baramati, India, in March.

The Baramati chocolate factory is its third factory in India and claimed to represent its largest investment in the country.