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Strategy

Barry Callebaut, the world market leader in high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, is the only fully integrated chocolate company with a global presence. Since its foundation in 1996 through the merger of Belgian-based Callebaut and French-based Cacao Barry, Barry Callebaut has evolved from a supplier of industry and specialty chocolate for industrial and artisanal customers into a provider of integrated solutions, from the bean to the shelf, to the entire food industry. The company is organized by region, and it serves three distinct customer segments.

Barry Callebaut – providing integrated solutions from the cocoa bean to the finest chocolate product on the shelf

Barry Callebaut serves the entire food industry and focuses on three distinct customer segments:

Industrial food manufacturers
Professional or artisanal users of chocolate (such as chocolatiers, pastry chefs or bakers)
Global retailers

It also provides a comprehensive range of services in the fields of product development, processing, training and marketing.

Barry Callebaut is challenged by following major industry trends:

Increasing demand from customers and consumers for health, (taste) experience or indulgence, and convenience
Outsourcing: an increasing number of previously fully-integrated food companies are outsourcing their primary chocolate needs to specialists like Barry Callebaut
Fast-growing markets in Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific
Mature markets of Western Europe and North America see growth primarily in premium chocolate
Ongoing challenging cost environment amid high raw material prices

Against this background, we consider innovation a must for the future profitable growth of our company. Furthermore, we are selectively expanding our geographic presence to capture growth opportunities in emerging markets and optimize our global operational set-up. A third cornerstone of our ongoing success is cost leadership. This is how we intend to continue growing twice as fast as the market in the years ahead.

Barry Callebaut's strategic priorities by customer segment

Barry Callebaut’s acknowledged customer focus is reflected in a differentiated strategy for each customer segment:

In order to optimally cover our own and our customers’ raw materials needs, we will expand our cocoa bean procurement activities in origin countries as well as promote the diversification of cocoa sourcing from different regions. We will strengthen our hazelnut sourcing activities in Turkey and leverage the Group’s purchasing power of non-cocoa raw materials.

We are a customer-oriented solutions provider for industrial food manufacturers. In terms of geography, we are determined to retain our market leadership in mature markets, to increase our market share in emerging markets (such as Russia and China) and to grow our market penetration in select mature markets (e.g. in Europe). We are expanding our origin country operations and developing a wider range of cocoa powders to cover a broader customer base. We intend to benefit from the outsourcing trend of large industrial food processors.

In our business serving professional or artisanal customers, our strategic focus is on expanding into new markets and gaining market share with new products. We want to continue covering all market segments and customer needs from the top-quality ingredient to convenient ready-to-use and ready-to-sell products. Differentiation in the market place shall be achieved on the basis of innovation, training courses for professionals offered by our eight Chocolate Academies around the world and technical advice.

In our services for global retailers, we are striving for cost leadership as a foundation for a healthy business, while emphasizing the quality of our products. Our strategy is based upon three pillars: customer label solutions for international retailers, co-manufacturing solutions for branded consumer goods companies, and branded products in local markets (Sarotti in Germany, Jacques in Belgium and Alprose in Switzerland).