Godiva Chocolatier

Godiva Chocolatier
Company typePrivate[1]
IndustryConfectionery production
Founded1926
FounderJoseph Draps
Headquarters
333 West 34th Street, New York City
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Salman Amin, CEO
ProductsFood and Beverage (Chocolate and Coffee)
ParentYıldız Holding
Websitewww.godiva.com

Godiva Chocolatier (/ɡəˈdaɪvə/; French pronunciation: [gɔdiva]) is a Belgian-based international chocolate maker[2][3][4] which is owned by Turkish conglomerate Yıldız Holding.[5]

Founded in 1926, it was purchased by Yıldız in November 2007. In 2019, South Korean private equity firm MBK Partners purchased Tokyo-based Godiva Japan, operations in South Korea and Oceania as well as a production facility in Belgium for a deal valued at over US$1 billion.[6][7][8][9][10] Godiva owns and operates more than 600 shops in Europe and Asia and is available via over 10,000 speciality retailers.[11]

In 2019, Godiva had planned to open 2,000 Cafés worldwide over the next 6 years, a concept that would introduce more coffee chain-type products including espresso drinks and croissant sandwiches. However, in January 2021, Godiva announced it would close all its 128 brick-and-mortar locations across North America by the end of March 2021, due to the lockdowns and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic drastically reducing in-person shopping, but would maintain wholesale operations.[12]

  1. ^ "Chocolatier Godiva to sell Asian-Pacific operations to MBK Partners". CNBC. February 20, 2019.
  2. ^ "Godiva to close all 128 chocolate stores in North America, citing decline in shoppers due to pandemic". NBC News. 25 January 2021.
  3. ^ "South Korea's MBK strikes $1bn Godiva chocolate deal". Financial Times. 20 February 2019.
  4. ^ "GODIVA Thailand Official Website - World Famous Handmade Chocolates". www.godiva.co.th.
  5. ^ "Godiva sells Asia business to South Korea's MBK for $1bn". Nikkei Asia. February 21, 2019.
  6. ^ "Global Food Industry News | Market Research and Reports - just-food". www.just-food.com.
  7. ^ "Lady Godiva becomes Bride of Istanbul". Archived from the original on November 17, 2015.
  8. ^ "A Giant Step by Ülker: World's Number One Premium Chocolate Brand is Now Ülker's". Archived from the original on June 16, 2008.
  9. ^ "Yildiz buys Godiva for $850m". Trend-news.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
  10. ^ "South Korea's MBK strikes $1bn Godiva chocolate deal". Financial Times. 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  11. ^ History of Godiva Archived 2007-09-18 at the Wayback Machine from the company's "Careers" website
  12. ^ "Luxury chocolate brand Godiva is closing all of its stores in Canada". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2021-01-23.