Tulip Cocoa FB GmbH in Fehrbellin is one of the world’s leading cocoa processors. The plant—formerly part of Euromar Commodities and now part of the production division of the Swiss ECOM Group—processes cocoa beans into cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and other cocoa products. With over 120 employees, extensive experience, and high-performance, state-of-the-art equipment, the plant east of Berlin can grind and process over 120 metric tons of cocoa beans daily.

The finished products are packed into big bags, sacks, or cartons and palletized so that they can be distributed worldwide as ingredients for chocolate, confectionery, and other food products.

The containers are automatically transported via a vertical pallet conveyor system from the final packaging area, over the production floor, to the finished goods warehouse, where they are temporarily stored using forklifts prior to being put into storage. The system also allows for the simultaneous return of intermediate products and packaging materials from the raw materials warehouse to production.

For these material flows, the pallets are transported via a vertical conveyor to the warehouse roof and transferred to a buffer section that can hold up to 6 pallets. When the buffer section is full, a transfer cart retrieves the pallets and transfers them to a transfer station 25 meters away.

From this transfer point, the pallets are transferred to another conveyor cart, which then transfers them to a vertical conveyor located 70 meters away. The vertical conveyor is located in the warehouse. There are two levels here for receiving and shipping goods.