History
Alfred Geltmeyer, born in Vrasene in 1934, was fond of sweets and chocolates from childhood. Son of a hardworking family of bakers, Alfred used to help out regularly in the family’s bakery.
In 1956, he decided to follow his heart and opened a small confectionery wholesale business. At first, he only supplied local stores, but soon Hamlet supplied various customers all over Belgium: from small local stores, bakeries and candy shops to larger retailers. It didn’t take long before the Dutch market was conquered too.
In 1985 Alfred’s 3 children Marcia, Wim and Tom joined the family business. Driven by the same passion for sweets, and under their father’s wings, they decided to build a production site for Belgian chocolates. Pralinart was born! Soon, Hamlet’s portfolio was expanded to include chocolate truffles and chocolate thins.
In 2005, a brand new packaging & production site was built, specialising in figurines with hazelnut filling (praline). A&A is a real eye catcher along the E17 motorway between Antwerp and Ghent.
Hamlet follows global trends closely. Our team works on new, innovative products and packaging on a daily basis. This is how we came to develop the Hamlet decorated chocolate hollows in 2014. These are now produced at the facility by the E17 motorway.
In 2017, the third generation entered the family-owned company, driven by the same passion as their grandfather.
Pralin’Art II is being built, a 4th state-of-the-art production facility for Belgian chocolate.