Racks of packaged chocolate as far as the eye can see, with eight head stations to set up pallets. — © carlo coppejans
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After a three-month trial run, the largest chocolate warehouse in the world was officially opened on Thursday in Lokeren. Within half an hour’s drive from the port of Antwerp, the orders are prepared for the whole world and loaded into containers to be transported by truck (and often also by ship) to customers in 140 countries.
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Maaike Floor
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In the industrial area of Lokeren, the new building towers above the rest. The Chocolate Box: that’s what Barry Callebaut’s new state-of-the-art warehouse is called. A name that makes you dream about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-like scenes, but anyone hoping for a chocolate river or an invention room full of simmering cauldrons will be disappointed. In the distance you can sense the smell of chocolate and some products are displayed on shelves in the hallway: five kilo blocks of chocolate, a large box of chocolate pencils or jars with one kilo of hazelnut praline. You don’t get much closer to the fairytale world of Roald Dahl, because a warehouse remains a warehouse and everything is well packed in plastic and in boxes.
It is funny that the manager here is also called Willy. Not Wonka, but Raemdonck, although he is addressed by colleagues as ‘Willy Wonka’. “You can’t compare me to that other Willy”, he laughs. “We are legally not allowed to come into contact with the naked product here. Almost all chocolate is produced in our factories in Halle and Wieze, accounting for 80,000 tons per location. Here we collect 1,500 different products, from chocolate slices to chocolate drops in different sizes, fillings and decorative elements, all destined for professional customers such as bakers, catering businesses and chocolatiers.”
–The 100% energy-neutral building is the most sustainable chocolate warehouse in the world — © carlo coppejans
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Global turntable
“All Callebaut’s chocolate that you can find anywhere in the world has passed here,” Willy says proudly. “We have customers as far as Australia, China and South America.” Flemish Minister of Economy, Innovation and Work Hilde Crevits (CD&V) had specially moved the session of the Flemish Parliament to the afternoon to be able to attend the official opening of The Chocolate Box. “There are visits you look forward to less,” she said with a laugh. “This is the chocolate hub in the world and it’s fascinating to see how innovative they work here.”
The Chocolate Box achieved the highest possible sustainability score for logistics buildings in the Benelux. This makes this 100% energy-neutral building not only the largest but also the most sustainable chocolate warehouse in the world. Rainwater is reused for the toilets and the roof is covered with solar panels. To keep the chocolate in optimum condition, it is constantly eighteen degrees, but thanks to a heat pump, the necessary ventilation systems and good insulation, the air conditioning will never have to work.
–A selection from the Callebaut range, which consists of more than 1,500 different products. — © carlo coppejans
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Partly fully automatic
Some of the operations are fully automated. In the warehouse is a monorail with 23 yellow carts. There are eight terminal stations to set up pallets and thirteen cranes that can put away or pick up pallets in four positions. Willy Raemdonck: “One part of the warehouse is forty meters high and everything there is fully automated. An order goes out in twenty minutes.” In total about 120 people work in the warehouse. The price tag for the entire project is 100 million euros.
–Manager Willy Raemdonck shows Minister Crevits and other invited guests around The Chocolate Box. — © carlo coppejans
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