Syrian businessman to make Hungary a power in (Ghraoui) chocolate
The Ghraoui family has been selling delicacies in Syria for more than 200 years. After they had to leave everything behind because of the civil war, they set up their new, European headquarters in Hungary.
Ghraoui delicacies since 1805
Bassam Ghraoui’s ancestor started his company in Damascus in 1805. Then the company mostly traded in sugar, tea, coffee, and fruits. They hired a French chocolate master in the 1930s, and soon the Ghraoui chocolate was sold in the most exquisite shops in London, delivering chocolate to her majesty the queen of the United Kingdom. The adversities of history dealt several blows to the company, which nevertheless became popular again in the 1990s. It still had factories and shops in Ghouta and Damascus before the Syrian conflict that broke out in 2011.
Ghraoui chocolate in Hungary
The Ghraoui family moved to Hungary, where they had business connections since the early ‘90s, and they hold Hungarian citizenship for more than 3 years. Bassam Ghraoui is not a confectioner but a businessman, who envisages Ghraoui as an outstanding candy sold to the most refined customers all over the world. They opened their factory in Budapest (in Csepel), where about 60 employees manufacture a variety of products. Their own shop opened in the heart of Budapest, opposite to the National Opera House early May 2017, and they are planning the set up a new factory in Hatvan, 60 km north-east from Budapest.
Chocolate as an economic interest of Hungary
The proposed new factory in Hatvan should employ more than 540 workers, and produce 12 thousand metric tons of chocolate per year. Of course, this will not be all consumed by Hungarians. About 95% of the product is planned to be exported, so a logistic center and a fleet of trucks will also be developed in Hungary. Because of that, the Hungarian government has ruled the successful operation of the Ghraoui company an economical interest of Hungary. The factory shall receive a special treatment during the licensing period so that operation may start as early as in November 2017. Then the Hungarian Syrian Ghraoui chocolate will be available on the shelves of the best confectioneries around the world.
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