Barry Callebaut Americas' Headquarters celebrates 15 years in Chicago!
Story
Barry Callebaut Americas' Headquarters celebrates 15 years in Chicago!
Story
We selected Chicago, our country’s candy capital, as our regional headquarters with the goal of becoming a leader in the North American market. Over the past 15 years, we have not only achieved becoming North America’s number 1 chocolate manufacturer, but we also have seen huge success in volume growth and innovations. Barry Callebaut is leading the way for the chocolate industry, and I can only imagine what we’ll accomplish with a continued growth-mindset and people-focused strategy.
Steve Woolley, Americas' President & CEO
Barry Callebaut's Region Americas' Headquarters opened in Chicago in March, 2007. Here some of their big milestones since then:
2007
On March 17, 2007, Barry Callebaut’s Region Americas’ Headquarters officially opened its doors in the Chicago neighborhood River North in the city’s iconic Montgomery Ward Building, now known as the Groupon Building. The office employed 36 employees with 11,207 square feet of space.
2008
In September, 2008, the Chicago office was expanded by 16,501 square feet with the addition of the Chicago Chocolate Academy.
2014
In 2014, the Headquarters expanded onto the 7th floor of the Groupon Building, adding 10,087 square feet of space.
2020
After a large renovation in 2020, the Chicago office and Chocolate Academy now has 56,478 square feet of space, 5 times bigger than its original size, and more than 200 employees.
We’ve come a long way from our small but mighty team in 2007 to the much larger and diverse team of people we have today. Many changes have occurred within the last 15 years, and this year we’re seeing one of the biggest changes with the launch of our FleX! Work policy, designed to offer our employees a flexible hybrid working environment that still allows for in-office collaboration.
Angie Kipper, VP of Human Resources, Americas