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Information about Godiva (chocolatier)



Godiva Chocolatier is a manufacturer of premium chocolates and related products. Since 1966, Godiva has been a subsidiary of Campbell Soup Company in the United States.[1]

Godiva has more than 270 retail shops in the US, Europe, and Asia and over 2,000 wholesale customers.[2] It also has a direct-sales business through its website or via a toll-free number (1-800-9-Godiva).[2]

Besides chocolates, Godiva also sells truffles, coffee, cocoa, biscuits, dipped fruits, and other items arranged in gift baskets. Godiva's signature package is the Gold Ballotin (French for "small, elegant box of chocolates"). Godiva also produces seasonal and limited edition chocolates with special packaging for all major holidays. Godiva also has license agreements for the production of ice cream, cheesecake, and liqueur that comes in several chocolate-related flavors and contains 15-17% alcohol. Additionally, it co-produces a line of chocolate/coffee blend drinks in cooperation with The Coca-Cola Company called "Godiva Belgian Blends."[3]

Godiva truffles include ingredients not expected in high quality chocolate, such as corn syrup and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. [4]

Godiva Chocolates are expensive, even compared with lesser-known brands that are considered to be of higher quality, like Valrhona or Michel Cluizel.[5].

History

Godiva traces its origins to a wholesale chocolatier founded in 1926 in Brussels, Belgium by Joseph Draps.[6] When solomons' son Joseph took over the company after World War II[1], the chocolatier established its own shop in Brussels under its present name, a name chosen in honor of the legend of Lady Godiva.<ref name="hist" />

The first Godiva shop outside Belgium was opened in Paris in 1958[1]; in 1966, the company's products reached the United States, where it was sold at luxury department stores.[1]. Also in 1966, the Yagudaev family sold a controlling interest in the company to Pepperidge Farm, part of Campbell, which later acquired the rest of the company.[1] Two years later, Godiva began production of its chocolate in Reading, Pennsylvania.[2]

By 1988, Godiva had revenues of approximately $100 million worldwide, derived mostly from sales to department stores and other specialty retailers.[1]; it's reputation as a premium chocolatier allowed it to sell its products at an average of about $22 per pound, nearly twice what competitors such as Fanny Farmer charged.[1]

By 2007 Godiva had annual sales of approximately $500 million.[7]

As of 2007, the company's U.S. factory in Reading produces "the same amount of chocolate for the U.S. market as the Belgian plant produces for the rest of the world."[2]

In August 2007, Campbell announced it was "exploring strategic alternatives, including possible divestiture, for its Godiva Chocolatier business"; the company said the "premium chocolate business does not fit with Campbell's strategic focus on simple meals"[7]

References

1. ^ Godiva Chocolatier, Inc. from a profile in International Directory of Company Histories via findarticle.com
2. ^ History of Godiva from the company's "Careers" website
3. ^ [1] (requires Flash)
4. ^ Chocophile review of Godiva
5. ^ Valrhona May Be Best, but Not Most Expensive : For Chocolate Lovers, Offer a Taste of Paradise by Conrad de Aenlle International Herald Tribune, retrieved March 19 2007
6. ^ The History of Godiva Chocolatier, from the company's website
7. ^ Campbell To Explore Strategic Alternatives For Godiva Business, a Campbell's press release via shareholder.com

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Campbell Soup Company

Public (NYSE:  CPB )
Founded 1869
Headquarters Camden, New Jersey, USA

Key people Douglas R. Conant, CEO
Industry Food - Major Diversified
Products Campbell's
Erasco
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Chocolate truffles are a group of chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache center coated in chocolate or cocoa powder, usually in a spherical, conical or curved shape.
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Coffee is a widely consumed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called beans, of the coffee plant. Coffee was first consumed in the 9th century, when it was discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia.
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A gift basket, or fruit basket is typically a gift that is delivered to the recipient at their home or workplace. There are different varieties of gift baskets, some which have fruit only, some with dry/canned goods only (such as tea, crackers and jam) although the standard
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Ice cream or ice-cream (originally iced cream) is a frozen dessert made from dairy products, such as cream (or substituted ingredients), combined with flavorings and sweeteners, such as sugar.
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A liqueur is a sweet alcoholic beverage, often flavored with fruits, herbs, spices, flowers, seeds, roots, plants, barks, and sometimes cream. The word liqueur comes from the Latin word liquifacere which means "to dissolve.
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The Coca-Cola Company

Public (NYSE:  KO )
Founded 1892 by Asa Griggs Candler
Headquarters Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Key people E. Neville Isdell, CEO & Chairman
Industry Beverage
Products Water and Non-alcoholic soda drinks
Revenue $24.
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Corn syrup is a syrup, made using corn (maize) starch as a feedstock, and composed mainly of glucose. A series of two enzymatic reactions are used to convert the corn starch to corn syrup.
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Hydrogenation is a class of chemical reactions which result in an addition of hydrogen (H2) usually to unsaturated organic compounds. Typical substrates include alkenes, alkynes, ketones, nitriles, and imines.
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Valrhona is a French chocolate manufacturer based in the small town of Tain L'Hermitage in Hermitage, a wine-growing district near Lyon. The company was founded in 1924 by a French pastry chef from the Rhône valley and has five subsidiaries and 60 local distributors across the
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Michel Cluizel is a manufacturer of high-quality chocolate in the French town of Damville in Normandy. The company has 200 employees, including the four children of the owner and name sake of the company. Michel Cluizel owns a store on Rue Saint-Honore in Paris.
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confectionery refers to food items that are (or at least are perceived to be) rich in sugar. Different dialects of English also use regional terms for confections:
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Godiva (or Godgifu) (fl. 1040-1080) was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in England in order to gain a remission of the oppressive toll imposed by her husband on his tenants.
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department store is a retail establishment which specializes in selling a wide range of products without a single predominant merchandise line. Department stores usually sell products including apparel, furniture, appliances, electronics, and additionally select other lines of
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Pepperidge Farm was founded in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin, who named the brand for a property her family owned in Connecticut (which itself was named for the pepperidge tree, Nyssa sylvatica). In 1961, the company was purchased by Campbell's.
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Reading, Pennsylvania
View from Pagoda atop Mt. Penn

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Berks County’s location in Pennsylvania
Reading’s location in Berks County
Country United States
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Fanny Farmer is an American candy manufacturer and retailer.

Fanny Farmer was started in Rochester, New York by Frank O'Connor in 1919. The company was named in honor of culinary expert Fannie Farmer, who had died four years earlier.
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divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial goals or ethical objectives. A divestment is the opposite of an investment.

Divestment for financial goals


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International Herald Tribune

Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet

Owner The New York Times Company
Editor Michael Oreskes
Founded 1887
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