Cémoi is a French

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

manufacturer founded by Jules Pares in 1814 in

Arles-sur-Tech Arles-sur-Tech (, literally ''Arles on Tech''; ca, Arles de Tec) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Location Arles-sur-Tech is located in the canton of Le Canigou and in the arrondissement of C ...

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

. Cémoi is the biggest French chocolate manufacturer and the 26th in the world. The Cémoi group owns 15 factories and 4 warehouses around the world.

History

The origins

In 1814, Jules Pares founded one of the first French chocolate factory in

, which eventually became

Cémoi Cémoi is a French chocolate manufacturer founded by Jules Pares in 1814 in Arles-sur-Tech, Pyrénées-Orientales. Cémoi is the biggest French chocolate manufacturer and the 26th in the world. The Cémoi group owns 15 factories and 4 warehouse ...

Development and diversification

In 1962 the businessman Georges Poirrier bought the company and changed its name to Cantalou. During the

Trente glorieuses ''Les Trente Glorieuses'' (; 'The Glorious Thirty') was a thirty-year period of economic growth in France between 1945 and 1975, following the end of the Second World War. The name was first used by the French demographer Jean Fourastié, who ...

and with the development of the consumer society, the group changed its business model to produce mainly

chocolate bar A chocolate bar (Commonwealth English) or candy bar (some dialects of American English) is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily brea ...

s for supermarkets. It started to buy its competitors: Frankonia in 1977, Phoscao in 1979,

Aiguebelle Aiguebelle (; frp, Égouabèla) is a former commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Val-d'Arc. site. It replaces the original site, which had become too cramped for production. In 2010, with production having been transferred to the new chocolate factory, the historic Perpignan d'Orle factory was refurbished as the company's headquarters, housing new laboratories for the R&D center (Cacao, Chocolat, Aromatique), as well as a boutique-museum. Since 2012, the former Cémoi chocolate factory has been transformed into a boutique, the official retailer of Cémoi products. The site offers tours of the group's former factory, as well as a detailed and explained product tasting. In 2015, the Transparence Cacao Program was launched, with the aim of controlling the entire chocolate chain, from planter to consumer. In 2017, the company acquired the American company Chris Candies (Pittsburg-Pennsylvania), specialized in production for supermarkets and wholesalers. Groupe Cémoi, with sales of 750 million euros and 3,200 employees, is acquired in July 2021 by Belgian family group Sweet Products for around 500 million euros, or 10 times its 2020 Ebitda, according to Les Echos. Once combined, the company is expected to have 5,000 employees, sales of 1.2 billion euros and to become "the world leader in private label chocolates".

Factory and warehouses

The Cémoi group owns 15 factories around the world: * 9 factories in France * 1 factory in Germany * 1 factory in Wales * 1 factory in Poland * 1 factory in Ivory Coast It also owns 4 warehouses: * 3 warehouses in France * 1 warehouse in Spain

Cémoi Cocoa

Cémoi Cocoa comes from the following countries: * Ivory Coast * Ecuador *

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álva ...

and Príncipe * Vanuatu

References

External links

Official Website
French chocolate companies Companies based in Languedoc-Roussillon Food manufacturers of France French brands Pyrénées-Orientales {{confection-stub