Jacques Chocolaterie
The Chocolaterie Jacques is a Belgian chocolate producer. The company was founded in Verviers in 1896 by Antoine Jacques (1858–1929) and from 1923 had its headquarters in Eupen in East Belgium . In 1982 the company merged with the Cologne chocolate manufacturer Stollwerck , which was taken over by Group Baronie from Rotterdam in 2011 . A chocolate museum has been attached to the former headquarters in the Eupen industrial area since 1993.
history
In 1890, the trained confectioner Antoine Jacques opened a first factory in Verviers together with Jean Joseph Hardy under the name "Lebkuchenfabrik Hardy and Jacques, Verviers" and won a gold medal at the Liège economic exhibition a year later . In 1894 they expanded their production to include chocolate products and noted this in their new company name "Chocolates and gingerbread Hardy and Jacques, Verviers". Jacques bought his first steam engine in 1895 and parted ways with his partner Hardy a year later. From then on he managed his company for gingerbread, confectionery and pralines with around 43 employees alone and now traded as “A. Jacques ”.
In 1899 Jacques suffered a major setback when a fire broke out in his factory that destroyed large parts of his machines, equipment and stocks. Nevertheless, he was able to recover quickly and in 1904 his products won several prizes at regional exhibitions in Antwerp , Brussels , Liège and at the world exhibition in St. Louis . A little later he was struggling with an internal theft of confectionery products and then fired six employees. As a result, there was unrest and a prolonged strike in the company in 1906, which led to a temporary slump in sales. Two years later, on February 18, 1908, an environmental catastrophe made matters worse when, after melting snow and heavy rainfall, the Weser overflowed its banks and flooded large parts of the company. Finally, between 1914 and 1918, Jacques had to cease production completely due to the unrest during the course of the First World War , and on February 23, 1919, he also lost his son, who was to be his successor.
Fortunately for him, chocolate consumption boomed again after the war and Jacques responded by expanding the business. In 1920 he merged with William Zurstrassen from Verviers and from then on operated under the name “Chocolaterie A. Jacques Société Anonyme” (SA). Three years later he moved his business premises to Eupen and initially kept the Verviers factory as a branch. He then gradually withdrew from the company and on December 1, 1923 initially handed over his post as Chairman of the Board of Directors, sold the buildings in Verviers in March 1924 and finally resigned from his position as director of the company in June of the same year.
In 1931, the Chocolaterie created a filled chocolate bar for the first time with its “Noiseline” product, which it refined and varied further in the following years and finally applied for a patent in 1936 as a six-part bar in different versions. It was known as "Superchocolate" and later became the company's best seller. A year later, the "Ritter Jacques" was designed with a helmet, shield and spear on a rearing horse, which from then on adorns the company's logo on all of its own products.
The Second World War and the occupation by German Wehrmacht troops from 1940 to 1944 again brought great difficulties for the chocolate shop. Initially, the company was confiscated by the German authorities and closed for production in 1942 due to insufficient supplies. The company management had foresightedly transferred a large part of their supplies to a confectioner in Antwerp and had some of their products manufactured by the company de Beukelaer, which was located there at the time, with the label “Chocolaterie Jacques Verviers”. After the occupiers had withdrawn and the war ended, production in Eupen was resumed in 1945, and one year later the facilities were extensively modernized and expanded.
In the years that followed, the chocolaterie experienced an enormous boom and by 1960 was able to increase its turnover to 100 million Belgian francs . This was mainly thanks to the special bars, which have meanwhile been offered in 33 varieties with 21 flavors. From 1963 the bars were equipped with collective pictures in the packaging and advertised with the sales label “one million bars per day”. Further subjects of the collector's pictures, which initially consisted of drawings and later also of photos, dealt with the Belgian transport system or the Belgian royal family and could be glued into the albums published by the company. In 1966, the scrapbook with Pinocchio pictures, published in the comic magazine Tintin , attracted particular attention . In addition, the chocolaterie was successfully represented at international confectionery fairs, including Expo 58 in Brussels, Anuga in Cologne, the International Green Week in Berlin , Munich and Denmark.
Changes in the European market resulted in new corporate strategies from the 1970s. In 1976, for example, the Jacques Chocolaterie initially joined the "Continental Sweets Belgium" distribution company and in 1982 joined the Stollwerck Group from Cologne, retaining the brand name and logo. After the Stollwerck headquarters was given up at the beginning of the 1980s and the company concentrated more on production subsidies in the affiliated companies, the Jacques Chocolaterie in Eupen also benefited and was initially able to move to a larger area in the Eupen industrial area in 1987 of the motorway junction, where they had new buildings erected with more modern machines. The wings of the building were expanded as early as 1993 and, among other things, the in-house chocolate museum was set up. In 2001, the Jacques Chocolaterie undertook to use only cocoa butter and no vegetable fat for its products and received the “AMBAO label” from the Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Since the takeover of the Stollenwerck Group in 2002 by the Zurich market leader for high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, Barry Callebaut , the Jacques Chocolaterie has also belonged to this company and rose to number two behind the Côte d'Or brand on the Belgian market. After Barry Callebaut started cooperating with the Spanish chocolate producer Natra in 2009, this also had an impact on the Eupener Chocolaterie. Jacques had to close the liquid chocolate department because it was decided to store the liquid chocolate in the Callebaut plant in Lebbeke and a Polish facility was to be used for its processing. Finally, in 2011 Jacques and the entire Stollwerck Group were taken over by the Belgian confectionery manufacturer Baronie and henceforth traded as “Sweet Products Chocolate”. In 2013, only around 30 employees and 100 workers were employed with only one production line.
closure
On October 23, 2018, the Baronie Group announced that the Jacques Chocolaterie would be closed at the end of May 2019. The reason for this are the falling sales figures since 2011 and quality defects. Around 60 to 70 employees are affected by the closure. It is also unclear whether and in what form the traditional name will continue to exist
Chocolate Museum
Just one year after the opening of the Cologne Chocolate Museum by the majority owner of the Stollwerck AG, Hans Imhoff , a chocolate museum was also set up on the factory premises of the Stollwerck subsidiary Jacques in Eupen. In addition to the historical representation of cocoa cultivation and chocolate production in the form of documentations and video presentations, there is a large collection here, which enables a comprehensive insight into the entire product range from the beginnings to the present, as well as old and sometimes historical forms, production machines and chocolate machines, color machines and collector's pictures, advertising posters and valuable porcelain from the 18th and 19th centuries. At the same time, the work in the factory can be observed from the museum via a pedestrian bridge without disrupting the work flow. Finally, an attached sales shop provides samples of the popular Jacques range and other products from the entire company.
Products (selection)
- Matinettes - chocolate bars as a topping on bread in three types
- Hagelslag - chocolate sprinkles in three variations
- Chocolate bars filled in seven flavors
- Chocolate bars in three types
- Block chocolate for preparing mousse and chocolate milk
- Chocolate drops for preparing sauces, mousse, desserts, ice cream and milk in two variations
Previous products (selection)
- Chocolate Le semeur - 1904
- Chocolate de la Gileppe - 1905
- Délice de 4 accounts - 1907
- Le Chocolat des Coopérateurs - 1921
- Notre Marianne - 1921
- Le Chocolat de la Clairière et la Semeuse - 1921
- Noiseline - 1931, first brand in bar form
- Mokaline - in 10 variations, registered in 1934
- Superchocolate - six-part chocolate bar 1936
- Fruidine - chocolate bar with a frozen creamy fruit, registered in 1936
- Moka Rhum - several variations with rum ingredients
- Royal Jacques - chocolate bars in several variations, registered in 1938
- Fourré praline
- Luna - chocolate bars 1950s
- Elysee chocolate bar, registered in 1959
literature
- Charles Pirard: Fabrique de Chocolat A. Jacques
Web links
- Company homepage (nl./frz.)
- Portrait on Le Monde des Chocolateries Belges from September 3, 2009 (French)
- Brief portrait on the European Route of Industrial Heritage
Individual evidence
- ↑ Job cuts at Chocolaterie Jacques in Eupen , notification to Ostbelgien-direkt from March 13, 2013
- ^ Chocolaterie Jacques will be closed , Grenz-Echo from October 23, 2018; (accessed on October 23, 2018)
- ↑ Chocolaterie Jacques in Eupen is closed , on vivreici.be from October 23, 2018
- ↑ Brief portrait of the Eupen Chocolate Museum on trois-frontieres
Coordinates: 50 ° 38 ′ 25.7 ″ N , 6 ° 0 ′ 21.6 ″ E