Barry Callebaut confirms mid-term targets, still assessing financial impact of salmonella incident

The world's biggest chocolate maker revealed (20 July) robust sales in the nine months to May due to strong demand.

Sales volumes grew 7.9% to 1,751 thousand tonnes in the first nine months of Barry Callebaut's fiscal year 2021-22, while sales revenue increased 13.5% to 6.076 billion Swiss francs ($6.27 billion), the Zurich-based group said in a statement, also confirming its mid-term targets.

Peter Boone, CEO of the Barry Callebaut Group, said: “Thanks to our great team, we are delivering continued strong volume growth across all Regions. These excellent results were achieved on the back of a strong chocolate performance, with another outstanding performance by Gourmet, in the third quarter against a high comparison base​.”

As reported in this publication​, the Group halted production at its Weize factory after detecting salmonella in June, but said cleaning was progressing well and is expected to restart production early next month and return to full capacity in August.

“Food safety is paramount for Barry Callebaut and this is an exceptional incident. I want to thank all teams involved for the speed and diligence with which they are driving the cleaning and the gradual restart of the Wieze factory. We are working closely with our customers and fully understand that this incident is disruptive to their planning. We want to thank them for the good cooperation and understanding​, “said Boone in a statement.

Barry Callebaut said its first nine months of fiscal year 2021-22 were well ahead of the underlying global chocolate confectionery market, which grew only 1.4% during that period – and it “outpaced it thanks to strong demand across regions and a continued recovery in its gourmet business that caters to bakeries and chefs​”.

Sustainability​

In May 2022, the Group further strengthened its cocoa farming research capabilities for the benefit of cocoa yield, sustainability and quality, through the establishment of its ‘Farm of the Future in Ecuador. Once fully operational, the 640-hectare property located in the Cerecita Valley will employ approximately 80 people and serve as a dedicated hub to power research in support of cocoa farming resilience and productivity, thus feeding into Barry Callebaut’s Farm Services programme.

Global Cocoa – Normalised volume growth

According to Barry Callebaut’s figures, sales volume growth in Global Cocoa normalised, resulting in an increase of +3.5% to 339,437 tonnes in the first nine months of fiscal year 2021-22. Sales revenue amounted to CHF 1,495.1 million, up +9.9% in local currencies (+9.8% in CHF).

Outlook

Looking ahead, Boone said: “Our strong innovation pipeline and continued drive for new opportunities make us confident to deliver on our mid-term guidance. Our confidence is bolstered by our deep and broad product portfolio and our global footprint.”