Hamburg, Oct 7 - Delfi Cocoa Europe has completed a major expansion project at its Hamburg cocoa plant which has increased processing capacity to 100,000 tonnes of beans annually from 35,000 tonnes, the company said on Wednesday.
The plant, a joint venture between Singapore's Petra Foods and the London-based Armajaro group, has been extensively modernised with investment of around 80 million euros since being purchased in 2007, said Petra FoodsCEO John Chuang.
Much of the Hamburg plant's new capacity was put into full operation in the third quarter.
Observers said on Wednesday this was a major reason for an unexpected rise in Germany's third quarter 2009 cocoa grind of 11.1 percent on the year following a second quarter fall in German grindings of 15.3 percent on the year and a first quarter fall of 21.3 percent.
The plant handles both cocoa bean grinding and butter production. The expansion enables production of a wide range of new cocoa powders for the chocolate and confectionery industries, Chuang told a news conference in Hamburg.
The Hamburg plant will supply Germany's large chocolate and food industries along with other countries in West and East Europe, Scandinavia and other buyers worldwide, he said.
Further expansion of the Hamburg plant could be considered in the long term.
Delfi Cocoa, as part of the Petra Foods group, has extensive cocoa product manufacturing operations in countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico and Brazil.
Asked if the group was considering more expansion in Europe, he said: "We are always looking for something with which we can add value to our business but our job today is to ensure we are serving our customers successfully from this (Hamburg) plant."