Martinez Chocolade
Millions of seasonal products packed per year
Nomi's customers
As one of the largest chocolate producers in the Netherlands, Martinez Chocolatier focuses on what they are very good at: making hundreds of millions of chocolate products per year.
To perfectly package all those delicious chocolates into consumer packages, the specialists at Nomi Co-Packing dedicate themselves for about 20 weeks per year. That's what they are good at!
Long-term vision
"My grandparents Wim and Tiny Stam took over my great-grandmother's chocolate shop on Bos- en Lommerweg in Amsterdam-West in 1952," says Wim Barendsen, who belongs to the third generation in the family business. "They built on the success and opened several more stores in Amsterdam. My grandparents had seven daughters and one son: Martin. This is how the name Martinez was created: Martin en zussen (Martin and sisters). Uncle Martin developed into a natural entrepreneur and wanted to expand the company into an artisanal chocolate production business with its own stores. After continually expanding the former production location in the industrial area of Amstelveen-Legmeer, we recently moved into a completely new factory a little further away in Amstelveen. Here, we have optimized the production lines and are focusing on long-term sustainability."
Manual craftsmanship and automated production
"There are now eight family members working in the company, and occasionally the retired family members still come to lend a hand. Together with our team of about 70 to 80 people, we produce all kinds of chocolate products. From manually filled liqueur chocolates and regular chocolate figures to chocolates for all seasons and holidays. We supply all these products to our eight Martinez Chocolatier franchise stores, to bakeries and confectionery retailers, specialized wholesalers, the B2B market, and supermarket chains. The combination of manual craftsmanship and automated production of volume, along with the mix of customers, is the foundation of our success. This is how we work with great love for the craft to develop and produce the tastiest and most beautiful chocolate products, which are also beautifully packaged. Everything has to be perfect!"
Toffee bar in mechanized packaging
"Uncle Martin had a long-held dream of bringing his own toffee bar to the market. It became the Toffeebreak, a bar of firm toffee covered in chocolate. To package these individually in a flowpack, we got in touch with Nomi Co-Packing. That was in 2015, and during that project, I joined the family business. For us, this was one of the first mechanized packaging projects. We had a very pleasant and intensive collaboration with the people at Nomi Co-Packing, but the bar did not become a sales success. Later, we tried again for a few years with Toffeebreak Bites, the mini version that was packaged in 150-gram doystyle bags. Unfortunately, that also did not sell well enough. We are currently working on a revised version that has been well received by our staff."
Seasonal chocolates in blockbottom bags
"Our relationship with Nomi Co-Packing got another opportunity after this. A large retailer gave us the order to produce 140 million seasonal chocolates. We had never received such a large order for seasonal products before. Within our factory, we switched to day, evening, and night shifts. Internally, this was manageable, but Nomi Co-Packing also had to adapt to process all the products into blockbottom bags. Together, we put our shoulders to the wheel and managed to deliver everything on time."
Mono and mixed packaging
"Over the years, there have been more large retailers for whom we can produce similar seasonal products. For Nomi Co-Packing, this means that they pack chocolate products for us in both mono and mixed packaging for about 20 weeks per year. We have a few great contacts there, with whom we communicate a few times a week. Our customer support contact is very pragmatic. She has a lot of experience on the production floor, which gives us a lot of positivity and confidence. The people from the quality department also stand out, resulting in our products being packaged in a technically perfect way according to the highest quality standards. Even the clip closes nicely and is positioned exactly in the right place. I see Nomi Co-Packing as an involved partner with a lot of knowledge and expertise, which enables them to deliver high quality. This also makes things sometimes a bit boring because everything just runs smoothly!"
Do you also produce seasonal chocolate, confectionery, or pastry products and want them dosed and filled by a certified and flexible co-packer? Feel free to contact us for more information or a suitable quote.
