New cocoa processing facility

Tradin Organic Agriculture BV (Tradin Organic), which has its headquarters in Amsterdam and is part of the SunOpta International Foods Group, has announced the official start of operations at Crown of Holland, its new cocoa processing facility in Middenmeer in the north of the Netherlands.

The new facility is dedicated to processing globally sourced, certified and specialty cocoa beans with an annual processing capacity of 9.000 MT.

Crown of Holland’s key feature is a roasting method known as ‘whole-bean roasting,’ which in combination with the quality of single-origin cocoa beans allows the development of customisable flavour profiles in cocoa liquors and powders.

The sustainable facility has been operating since September 2013, and the company’s existing cocoa volume has been completely transferred to Crown of Holland. The official festive opening with international guests from the cocoa industry will take place on 14 November 2013.

Gerard Versteegh, president of the SunOpta International Foods Group comments: “Thanks to its highly efficient processing equipment, manageable size and smart layout, the plant has the flexibility to easily accommodate all sizes of jobs from short production runs to tolling agreements for bigger tonnages. This makes Crown of Holland the ideal partner for smaller niche customers and large processors looking into outsourcing their certified cocoa production.”