Barry Callebaut facts for kids
 |
|
| Aktiengesellschaft | |
| Traded as | SIX: BARN |
| Founded | Merger of Cacao Barry and Callebaut in 1996 |
| Headquarters | Zürich, Switzerland |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
|
| Products | Cocoa and Chocolate |
| Revenue | 8,470,500,000 Swiss franc (2022/2023) |
|
Operating income
|
659,400,000 Swiss franc (2022/2023) |
| 443,100,000 Swiss franc (2022/2023) | |
|
Number of employees
|
13,754 (2022/2023) |
Barry Callebaut AG is a big company from Switzerland and Belgium that processes cocoa and makes chocolate. Think of them as a huge chocolate factory! Every year, they produce about 2.3 million tonnes of cocoa and chocolate.
This company was created in 1996 when two chocolate businesses joined together: Cacao Barry from France and Callebaut from Belgium. Today, Barry Callebaut is based in Zürich, Switzerland. They operate in more than 30 countries all over the world.
Their customers are not just people buying chocolate bars. They also sell their cocoa and chocolate products to other big companies that make famous chocolate brands. Plus, they supply chocolate to talented chocolatiers, pastry chefs, bakers, and caterers who create delicious treats.
Contents
The Sweet Story of Barry Callebaut
This section tells you how Barry Callebaut became the big chocolate company it is today. It all started with two separate companies that loved cocoa and chocolate.
Cacao Barry: From Africa to France
Cacao Barry was founded way back in 1842 in Hardricourt, France. It was started by an Englishman named Charles Barry. He loved exploring Africa, and that's where he first learned about cocoa beans. These beans are the main ingredient for chocolate! The company began making chocolate in 1911.
Later, in 1952, Cacao Barry became involved in every step of making chocolate. This included everything from processing the cocoa bean to creating fancy gourmet chocolate. They also started selling more chocolate in places like the United Kingdom. In 1994, they launched a special brand called "Pure Origine of Cacao Barry."
Callebaut: Belgian Chocolate Excellence
Callebaut was a Belgian company, founded by Eugenius Callebaut in Wieze, Belgium, in 1850. It actually started as a brewery, which is a place that makes beer. But soon, in 1911, they switched to making chocolate bars instead! By 1925, they were making a special kind of chocolate called chocolate couverture. This is a high-quality chocolate often used by chefs and chocolatiers.
In the 1950s, Callebaut started selling its products to other European countries and North America. Belgian chocolate was known for being very good, which helped Callebaut grow. In 1981, a company called Interfood bought Callebaut. Later, in 1983, a businessman named Klaus Jacobs took full control of Interfood and Callebaut. He became a big leader in the candy world.
Joining Forces: The Merger and Beyond
.jpg)
The French chocolate company Cacao Barry and the Belgian chocolate company Callebaut joined together in 1996. This created the company we know today: Barry Callebaut. In 1998, Barry Callebaut became a public company. This means its shares could be bought and sold on the SIX Swiss Exchange, a stock market in Switzerland.
The new company kept growing. They took over the management of Van Houten, a Dutch company that made chocolate and cocoa powder since 1815. Barry Callebaut also started making new products. These included brands like Bensdorp (for cocoa powder) and The Barry and Callebaut (for gourmet chocolate). They also made new products for industrial use, like cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and chocolate liqueur.
In 1999, the company bought Van Leer Chocolate, a company based in the United States. The next year, they bought Carma-Pfister AG in Switzerland. That same year, Barry Callebaut started selling its products in South America when it bought Chadler Industrial de Bahia, a Brazilian company.
In 2002, Barry Callebaut bought a German company called Stollwerck. This deal meant they also took over 17 brands that Stollwerck owned, including Sarotti. The company continued to expand by buying other businesses. For example, in 2004, they bought AM Foods K/S, a company in Denmark that specialized in croissants and chocolate.
In 2007, Barry Callebaut made a deal with another famous Swiss brand, Nestlé. They bought Nestlé's chocolate production sites in France and Italy. They also agreed to supply Nestlé with a lot of chocolate products every year. Before the year ended, they bought FPI-Food Processing International in the United States and KL Kepong Cocoa Products Sdn Bhd in Malaysia. In 2009, Barry Callebaut bought the Spanish chocolate maker Chocovic S.A.
All these international purchases happened quickly. The CEO of Barry Callebaut said, "We did not want Barry Callebaut to be merely European, we wanted it to become a global company." This shows their goal to become a worldwide leader in chocolate.
In 2017, Barry Callebaut bought D’Orsogna Dolciaria. This Italian company makes amaretto biscuits, which are small almond cookies, and other sweet decorations.
Ruby Chocolate: A New Color of Sweetness
In September 2017, the Swiss company launched a brand new type of chocolate called Ruby. It's special because it has a natural reddish-pink color! This pink color doesn't come from adding artificial colors or chemicals. Instead, it comes from the special "Ruby cocoa beans" used to make it. These beans grow in specific places with unique weather conditions, like Ecuador, Brazil, and the Ivory Coast. Barry Callebaut processes them naturally to get this beautiful color.
Barry Callebaut first showed off this "fourth type of chocolate" at a special event in Shanghai, China. They saw China as a very important market for their new product.
In January 2018, Nestlé Japan Ltd. was the first big brand to use this new chocolate. They launched a Ruby Sublime Kit Kat in Japan. A few months later, in April, the pink Kit Kat was also launched in the UK. This made the UK the first Western country to try the pink Kit Kat made with Barry Callebaut's Ruby cocoa beans.
Growing Around the World
Barry Callebaut has grown a lot over the years by buying other companies and opening new factories and offices. Here are some examples of how they expanded:
- In 1999, they bought Carma AG in Switzerland.
- In 2002, they acquired the Stollwerck Group in Germany.
- They opened sales offices in places like Tokyo, Japan (2004).
- They built new chocolate factories in California, U.S. (2005), and near Moscow, Russia (2007).
- In 2007, they signed big agreements to supply chocolate to companies like Nestlé, Hershey's, and Cadbury.
- They opened more chocolate factories in Suzhou, China (2008), and Monterrey, Mexico (2009).
- Barry Callebaut also opened "Chocolate Academies" in many cities around the world. These academies help train chefs and chocolatiers.
- They continued to expand in Asia, buying a stake in KL-Kepong Cocoa Products Sdn Bhd in Malaysia (2008).
- In 2010, they opened a chocolate factory in Extrema, Brazil.
- They also made long-term agreements to work with big food companies like Kraft Foods Inc. (2010) and Unilever (2012).
- In 2012, they launched the "Cocoa Horizons" initiative. This program focuses on making sure cocoa is grown in a way that helps the environment and the farmers.
- More recently, they opened a chocolate factory in Eskişehir, Turkey (2013).
- In 2021, they opened their largest chocolate distribution center in Lokeren, Belgium.
- In 2022, they opened another chocolate factory in Duran, Ecuador.
In 2005, Barry Callebaut introduced a "healthy" chocolate product called ACTICOA. This chocolate has more special plant compounds called polyphenol antioxidants (also known as cocoa flavanols) than other chocolates. Some studies suggest these flavanols might have health benefits.
See also
