When Callebaut merged with its French counterpart, Cacao Barry in 1996, it succeeded in complementing its own extensive experience in production and marketing with Cacao Barry’s expertise in procurement and cocoa processing. Since that time, Barry Callebaut has grown to become the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate for the global food industry, mastering every step of the production process from sourcing the finest beans to tempering the finished chocolate.

 

Barry Callebaut’s primary production and research facility in Wieze, Belgium is the largest chocolate factory in the world. Barry Callebaut is present in 25 countries, and operates about 40 production facilities around the globe. This global network of production sites spanning Europe, Africa, North and South America and Asia, coupled with a strong commitment to research and development, has enabled Barry Callebaut to answer the diverse needs and varying consumer preferences of a wide spectrum of the global food industry.

 

Barry Callebaut’s sales of over €2.5 billion last financial year therefore include industrial food manufacturers, professional artisanal users (such as chocolatiers, pastry chefs and bakers) and retailers. The company also provides a comprehensive range of services for its customers in the fields of product development, processing, training and marketing.

As the driving force of the world’s chocolate and confectionary industry, Barry Callebaut aims to be the number one producer in every major customer segment, in every major market throughout the world. Barry Callebaut’s strength is derived from a passion for chocolate spanning more than 150 years and the constantly evolving heritage of knowledge and expertise it implies. Barry Callebaut’s diverse range of products and applications along with its long tradition of innovation and product development make it the preferred partner of an equally diverse range of customers from individual artisans to industrial manufacturers and global retailers.

 

 

 “Our focus at Barry Callebaut has always been to generate growth for our customers; helping them to develop, produce and market new products for the enjoyment of consumers the world over,” says Hans Vriens, Chief Innovation Officer at Barry Callebaut. As a result, the company now boasts around 1700 different recipes along with proven expertise in the field of customized product development. The fact that Barry Callebaut continues to outgrow the global chocolate market by 2 to 1 is further proof of the success of its overall strategy.

Barry Callebaut’s innovation strategy is founded on three main pillars: health & wellness, experience & indulgence and convenience. Barry Callebaut’s Acticoa™ chocolate and cocoa powder is just one example of ‘going back to the bean’. Acticoa™ is the outcome of years of research aimed at preserving and enhancing the function of cocoa polyphenols, the most powerful antioxidants known to man.

 

“Antioxidants are thought to play a major role in several areas of human health from cardiovascular health and immune response to brain function,” explains Hans Vriens. “Acticoa™ is the only chocolate with a guaranteed minimum polyphenol content and is also one of the richest known sources of antioxidants.” Other innovations aimed at improving the permissibility of chocolate include a sugar reduced and fibre enriched chocolate which succeeds in improving the nutritional profile of chocolate without the use of artificial additives.

 

Intensive research at Barry Callebaut has also resulted in a probiotic chocolate as well as the world’s first sugarbased tooth-friendly chocolate. Best of all, Barry Callebaut’s healthy chocolate range has the same great taste, texture and mouth feel as conventional chocolate. In fact, Barry Callebaut is always looking for ways to enhance that celebrated chocolate experience even further. For instance, because of its presence in origin countries the company, can offer the widest selection of single-origin chocolates in the world. Embodying the unique characteristics and flavours of specific cocoa varieties and growing regions, these singleorigin chocolates represent the very pinnacle of indulgence.

 

Other innovations including the world’s first soluble cocoa powder along with non-chocolate derivatives such as brewing agents, fat-free frying products and even cosmetics and skincare products have firmly established Barry Callebaut not only as the global leader in research and development but as the very heart and soul of the cocoa and chocolate industry.