-Individually packed biscuits and chocolats (Bolero, Napolitains) for the Food service (+/- 120 pieces) and retail (+/- 25 up to 40 pieces);

-Saisonnal products for St Valentine, Easter, Halloween and Christmas;

History

In his bakery in Antwerp, Alfons Caeyers also produced traditional chocolates and sweets besides the traditional bakery products (like bread, pastry and cakes). As Alfons had 6 children, the hard work became difficult to combine with his family. That’s why he sold the bakery in 1956. Nevertheless Alfons kept on working in the bakery sector and became a specialist in making chocolate and marzipan. After a couple of years the assortment expanded with home-made truffles. At this point the company that counted already 9 employees and was situated in Wilrijk (Antwerp). It operated under the name “Confiserie Caeyers”.

Because of the non-stop growth and the limited possibilities to expand, the company moved to Herentals, Toekomstlaan 14, in 1979. The following years, the company kept growing and Alfons Cayeres passed on the company to his 4 sons and renamed it Cocachoc (Confiserie Caeyers Chocolaterie). In this period the assortment expanded with several chocolates, e.g. the Bolero, a portion packed chocolate which is still in production. In the same period Cocachoc launched as one of the first companies a biscuit under license, the Samson & Gert School biscuits. This assortment has developed into a wide range of licensed biscuits for children, such as Bumba, Kabouter Plop, Samson and Gert and K3.

Over the years, Cocachoc gradually specialised in portion packed biscuits and chocolates. In the early ’90s, Cocachoc sold seasonal products in a theme packaging and individually packed biscuits in mixed boxes.

All of those changes reflected in more complex production processes.

Because the location on the Toekomstlaan 14 didn’t offer enough space, it was necessary to move again. The ideal location, near to the E313 and with the possibilities of expansion, proved to be in the same street on number 49. Cocachoc kept growing in sales and number of employees.

In 2002 Cocachoc became a member of the “PortionPack Europe Group”, a part of “Tiense Suikerraffinaderij”, which is a part of “Südzucker Deutschland”. “Elite Biscuits”, for years a competitor of Cocachoc, already was a member of this group. In June 2004 Cocachoc and Elite Biscuits merged under the name of PortionPack Belgium. However, the commercialization of the two brands was held apart. In 2005 the production capacity of PortionPack Belgium expanded, so that Elite Biscuits could integrate. Nowadays PortionPack Belgium counts 100 employees and has a production plant of 13000 m² with a turnover of around 30 milj. Euro.