Cargill on Dec. 16 broke ground on a $48 million investment at its Belgian chocolate production facility in Mouscron, an effort the company said will double the capacity at the plant over the next two years. The additional capacity will meet growing demand for chocolate in confectionery, bakery, dairy and artisanal applications from European customers, Cargill said.

Cargill has 12 chocolate production plants in Europe, including 2 in Belgium. The plant in Mouscron is the company’s largest in the region.

Cargill said the investment will be used to increase capacity of both liquid dark or milk chocolate and solid chocolate drops and chunks. The new plant will source raw materials like cocoa butter from Cargill’s cocoa processing plants in The Netherlands and in France.