Cargill has announced its acquisition of Leman Decoration Group, a leading supplier of cake decorations across the bakery sector, including the artisanal, small industrial and home-baking segments, and foodservice. The acquisition significantly broadens Cargill’s offerings in the decorations space, enabling the company’s cocoa and chocolate business to better serve gourmet customers in Europe and around the world.

Known for its wide and creative product range, Leman Decoration Group’s portfolio spans cake decorations, chocolate printings, sugar-based decorations and wafers.

“By adding Leman Decoration Group to the Cargill family, we’re able to support our gourmet and industrial customers at every step of their journey – from concept to finished product,” says Inge Demeyere, managing director Cargill Chocolate Europe. “Our dedicated Gourmet business will be a true one-stop-shop for all their chocolate needs, inclusions, decorations, couverture chocolate and now also, an extensive range of special decorations, all backed by a unique platform for sound customer service, including extensive R&D and printing capabilities, and the combined expertise and resources of two world-class organizations.”

As part of the transaction, all Leman Decoration Group facilities, including its three state-of-the-art manufacturing sites in Belgium, Mauritius and Thailand, and its nearly 450 employees will join the Cargill family, reporting into its dedicated Global Gourmet and Distribution organization.

“Cargill’s deep chocolate production expertise and established global cocoa and chocolate supply compliments our long-standing commitment to our gourmet customers,” says Didier Leman, owner of Leman Decoration Group, “By joining with Cargill, we can build on our nearly six-decade legacy in the decoration space and leverage the collective strengths of our complementary operations to better serve the full-spectrum of our clients’ need today and for years to come.”

The move is Cargill’s latest in a series of steps to extend its presence and product line in the gourmet space. In 2019, Cargill acquired Smet, a leading Belgium-based supplier of chocolate and sweets decorations while in January 2021, the company expanded its Kalmthout, Belgium, gourmet production facility. In March of this year, Cargill also added signature origins to its Veliche line of couverture chocolates.