production founded 1926 founder joseph draps headquarters 333 west 34th street new york city u.s. belgium area served worldwide products chocolates parent y ld z holding website www.godiva.com godiva chocolatier is a manufacturer of premium fine chocolates and related products . godiva founded in belgium in 1926 was purchased by the turkish y ld z holding owner of the lker group on november 20 2007 . 1 2 3 4 godiva owns and operates more than 600 retail boutiques and shops in the united states canada europe and asia and is available via over 10 000 speciality retailers . 5 in addition to chocolates godiva also sells truffles coffee cocoa biscuits dipped fruits and sweets chocolate liqueur shakes wedding and party favors and other items arranged in gift baskets . godiva s signature package is the gold ballotin french for small cardboard box of chocolates . godiva also produces seasonal and limited edition chocolates with special packaging for major holidays . godiva also has license agreements for the production of ice cream cheesecake coffee pods and liqueur that comes in several chocolate related flavors . products are also available in sugar free and kosher varieties . contents 1 history 2 godiva today 3 see also 4 gallery 5 references 6 external links history edit godiva was founded in 1926 in brussels belgium by joseph draps who opened his first boutique in the grand place in brussels under its present name in honour of the legend of lady godiva . 6 the first godiva shop outside belgium was opened in paris on the fashionable rue saint honor in 1958 . in 1966 the company s products reached the united states where they were sold at luxury strip malls . the following year it was purchased by the campbell soup company . in 1972 the first godiva boutique in north america was opened on new york city s fifth avenue . 7 by 2007 godiva had annual sales of approximately 500 million . in august of that year campbell soup company announced it was exploring strategic alternatives including possible divestiture for its godiva chocolatier business ; the company said the premium chocolate business does not fit with campbell s strategic focus on simple meals . 8 on december 20 2007 campbell announced that it entered into an agreement to sell godiva to y ld z holding based in istanbul turkey which is the owner of lker group and the largest consumer goods manufacturer in the turkish food industry . 1 9 the acquisition was completed on march 18 2008 for 850 million . 10 godiva today edit lawyers of the company have sent a series of letters warning the lady godiva public house in geneva switzerland that they are infringing upon their intellectual property with the latest asking them to cease and desist from using the name . pru porretta mbe who was behind the revival of dame goodyver s daye in coventry england where a procession through the city s streets includes her representing lady godiva riding a horse commented i think it s very sad . godiva was a great woman who challenged her husband to stop the terrible things that were happening to the people . i m sure lady godiva wouldn t care for a company which seems to be taking something that wasn t theirs originally and want to use it for themselves and nobody else . it s about our rich heritage . i would say it s morally wrong . 11 there is even a boycott godiva campaign on facebook . 12 godiva continues to own and operate more than 450 shops worldwide . 13 the company issues six seasonal mail order catalogs a year in the usa and also accepts online and telephone orders for their products . godiva chocolate are also sold in local malls and mini shops . godiva opened may 2012 caf godiva 14 in london s harrod s department store . the 40 plus table venue features godiva s chocolate beverages pastries and chocolates . the company also has a store in the harrods food hall . see also edit lady godiva after whom the company is named . belgian chocolate gallery edit godiva golden box 24 pralinen a hong kong branch a singapore branch godiva store in north america references edit a b lker group to buy campbell s godiva lady godiva becomes bride of istanbul a giant step by lker world s number one premium chocolate brand is now lker s archived june 16 2008 at the wayback machine . yildiz buys godiva for 850m . trend news.com . retrieved 2012 01 27 . history of godiva from the company s careers website the history of godiva chocolatier from the company s website godiva chocolatier inc. from a profile in international directory of company histories via findarticle.com campbell to explore strategic alternatives for godiva business a campbell s press release via shareholder.com geoff mulvihill ; 533 words . turkish company buys godiva . highbeam research . retrieved 2012 01 27 . campbell completes sale of godiva chocolatier to y ld z holding for 850 million dead link http www.bbc.co.uk news uk england coventry warwickshire 29596513 https www.facebook.com boycottgodiva godiva everywhere . godiva . retrieved 30 december 2012 . godiva chocolate cafe . godiva uk . retrieved 20 may 2013 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to godiva chocolatier . godiva s official website godiva s uk official website ulker s official website v t e y ld z holding divisions pladis global lker godiva chocolatier united biscuits brands mcvitie s bn biscuit jacob s go ahead biscuits carr s delacre biscuits verkade sultana demet s candy company retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title godiva chocolatier & oldid 743629277 categories campbell soup company brandschocolate companiescompanies established in 1926brand name chocolatey ld z holdingfood and drink companies established in 1926hidden categories articles with wayback machine linksall articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from june 2016commons category with page title same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages catal deutschespa olfran ais bahasa indonesiamagyar svenska t rk e edit links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 13 24 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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