The holidays are the time when we reach for chocolate: from letters to cookies and wreaths. NH took a look at the Western Docklands: the largest cocoa port in the world and home to the Amsterdam chocolate factory of Chocolatemakers.
Halfway along the Radarweg in Amsterdam, in the Chocolatemakers chocolate factory, it is remarkably quiet. It is a case of the calm before the storm: October to December is the peak time par excellence for the employees of the Amsterdam factory. The brand grew up with bars, but recently also added chocolate letters and a completely new brand.
Hundreds of thousands of kilos of cocoa beans
The Amsterdam port where the Radarweg is located is known as the largest cocoa port in the world. During busy periods, hundreds of thousands of kilos of cocoa beans are stored: ready to be processed or shipped.
Curious passers-by
The Chocolatemakers factory in the gray, windy harbor area, surrounded by gray lapping water, has anything but a Willie Wonka-like appearance. Yet it often happens that curious passers-by knock on your door.
“These are often people who come from the ferry from Zaandam,” explains Amber Entius of Chocolatemakers. “They cycle past here every day, but don’t take the step to actually come by. And suddenly they think: ‘I’m going to take a look.’
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The reason it’s quiet when NH walks around the factory is because it’s like a break. Witnesses to the hectic pace are clearly visible: in the storage space there are tall towers of boxes full of bar wrappers, a new boiler is being installed in between so that even more bars can roll off the production line and there are stacks of pallets next to the office.
Chaos in the factory
Entius points her finger at the ‘clutter’ several times during the tour of the building. “It’s chaos,” she apologizes. Another two weeks of hard work for the chocolate crew and a well-deserved holiday period will follow.
Until then, office workers also work in the warehouse when a large order needs to be packed and students and seniors earn extra money by wrapping the gift products. We also work during weekends and a twelve-hour working day is not rare.
Wipe chocolate
Co-founder Rodney Nikkels is equally committed to this. Often including a smear of chocolate on his face, Entius explains. “He likes to literally have his hands in the chocolate and jumps in whenever he can.”
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As if it wasn’t busy enough, the Tres Hombres docked yesterday: a sailing cargo ship that transports beans from the Dominican Republic to the port of Amsterdam. They will not see the boat again for a while, because the journey will take about six months.
This method of transport suits Amsterdam chocolate makers. The brand has been trying from the start to make chocolate as sustainably as possible. For example, their bars are organic, employees receive a fair wage, the factory runs on solar energy and processes the cocoa beans into chocolate without emissions and waste.
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Rodney Nikkels started Chocolatemakers with a partner in Amsterdam-Noord in 2011 in a few garage boxes. The chocolate makers have been in the building in the Western Docklands since 2019 and this year alone rolled a million bars off the production line.
The factory measures approximately 1,000 square meters, but looks remarkably cramped. During these busiest months, continuous consideration is given to an even more convenient layout of the building.
Placing the bars of the new brand – called Claro – on the Radarweg proved impossible due to the peak traffic in combination with the lack of space. For this purpose, use must be made of the warehouses of the well-known Zaanse wholesale grutter, which the brand has been the first to sell for a few weeks.
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When the tour is almost over, the factory slowly comes back to life. The smell of chocolate is still all-pervading after an hour. Great as a visitor, but what about when you work full-time? And do chocolate makers even enjoy a bar after a while? “Absolutely,” Entius says decisively. “If you don’t like chocolate, you shouldn’t work here.”