Cargill’s cocoa and chocolate business and Smet, a leading Belgium-based supplier of chocolate and sweets decorations to the food service and confectionery markets, announce their intent to bring together their global gourmet chocolate activities. Smet has a global distribution network for gourmet products, two fully owned manufacturing sites in Belgium and Poland, and almost 90 employees.

“The proposed acquisition emphasizes Cargill’s commitment to its customers in the gourmet segment, building on the strengths of both organizations and enhancing complementary capabilities,” said Inge Demeyere, Managing Director of Cargill’s chocolate activities in Europe. “We will broaden our product portfolio and services to artisans and chocolatiers, bakery, hospitality businesses and food service industries. Smet’s unique entrepreneurial capabilities will be leveraged to allow for a dedi-cated focus on gourmet customers”.