Expansion

Malaysia’s GCB cocoa to open new factory in UK

By Anthony Myers

- Last updated on GMT

GCB Cocoa formally take over the factory in the UK. Pictured (left to right): Chris Starkie (New Anglia LEP), James Cartlidge MP, Khai Vualnam (GCB Cocoa), Cllr Michael Holt (Babergh District Council) Picture: courtesy of James Cartlidge MP
GCB Cocoa formally take over the factory in the UK. Pictured (left to right): Chris Starkie (New Anglia LEP), James Cartlidge MP, Khai Vualnam (GCB Cocoa), Cllr Michael Holt (Babergh District Council) Picture: courtesy of James Cartlidge MP

Related tags Cocoa Malaysia

GCB Cocoa, a Malaysian-owned chocolate company, has announced the acquisition of a former Phillips electronics factory in the UK with a pledge to invest £62.2m and the creation of 220 jobs.

The site in Glemsford, Suffolk, will allow the company, which has been established in Asia since the 1980s, access to the UK market and will play a “key part of the Group’s vision to be fully integrated and a market leading cocoa supplier across the globe​”.

A spokesman for GCB Cooca said: “The acquisition of the Philips Avent factory in Glemsford by GCB Cocoa UK is a tremendous leap in the advance of cocoa and chocolate supply production in the UK. This investment will provide training and skilled opportunities in the area, building a vertically integrated supply chain to facilitate the United Kingdom and beyond​.”

GCB cocoa began trading cocoa beans in the 1980s. In 1983, it started processing cocoa beans by setting up a factory in Parit Jawa, Muar, Johor. In 1990, with the vision to become a market leader in the local cocoa processing industry, the management sold the plant in Parit Jawa and built a new plant in the Pasir Gudang Industrial Area under Guan Chong Cocoa Manufacturer (GCCM).

The Group is principally involved in the manufacturing of cocoa-derived food ingredients, namely cocoa mass, cocoa butter, cocoa cake and cocoa powder.