Cheese, Chocolate, and Copious amounts of Coffee

We started off the morning early again for another great day in Belgium. As the bus started to pull away we realized that two of our colleagues were still in bed.  Unfortunately they had not quite adjusted to the Belgian time zone. Do not fret they did catch up with us after a 35 Euro train and taxi ride.

We had the opportunity to visit two Kraft facilities near Leuven today.  The first lecturer at the Kraft cheese plant in Namur, Belgium was Mr. Benoit Dargent.  Mr. Dargent discussed the fundamentals of the Kraft Cheese business in Belgium. One point that we found particularly interesting was about how the plant has already exceeded the benchmark set by the Kyoto Protocol and is now contemplating ways to go beyond the government requirements due to corporate social responsibility and their own financial benefit.  The following lecture was by Mr. Benoit Willemet, a specialist in cheese technology.  He demonstrated the differences between natural and processed cheese.  We were also able to sample the difference between newer cheeses versus older cheese.  The plant was nice enough to give us a tour of their facility, which is something that they do not offer to the general public. The tour was incredibly in depth and insightful. Some of the tour guides even offered samples of their products off the assembly line. After the tour we were treated to a lunch of traditional Belgian sandwiches along with a wide variety of beverages.

Following the Kraft Cheese visit Hugo, our amazing bus driver, gave us a scenic tour through some of Belgium’s beautiful countryside. We arrived at the Kraft Cote d’Or chocolate facility shortly after 1pm.  We were greeted by Mr. Philippe Houssemand and some of his colleagues. We learned all about the chocolate making process and the differences between dark, milk, and white chocolate. They also offered us a tour of their chocolate plant where we saw the chocolate making process from cocoa bean to packaged bars. Afterwards our hosts answered a lot of pending questions that some of our group members had and graciously gifted each of us with an extensive variety of their chocolate products. 

And the coffee??? Well, that is just how the majority of our group manage to make the most of our hectic schedule.  Copious amounts of coffee started us off in the morning at the Irish College and continually refresh us throughout the day.

It was a pleasure to visit both Kraft facilities today as well as see more of the country of Belgium.

Posted by Anthony Rhodes, Katie Lorge, Hania Solecka, Matt Wassman