Seeing double: Barry Callebaut opens second space in Indonesia

Barry Callebaut opened a facility three years ago in Gresik, on the eastern side of Java; it also operates two cocoa factories – one in West Java and the other on South Sulawesi. In total, the confectioner employs more than 550 employees in five major locations across Indonesia.

The ‘plant in plant’ approach ties Barry Callebaut more closely to the on-site production of its customers – in this case GarudaFood, one of Indonesia’s largest food and beverage companies. The 29-year-old producer serves up a variety of snacks, biscuits and candy (under the brands Gery, Chocolatos, Leo and Clevo, plus its namesake), as well as dairy products and beverages, the latter through a partnership with Japan’s Suntory Beverage and Food Limited.

“Barry Callebaut will continue to invest in the development of our manufacturing capabilities and continue to offer new products with our customers,” ​said Ben De Schryver, president of the company’s Asia Pacific division. “We are excited by our longstanding relationship with GarudaFood and the potential of the confectionery market in Indonesia.”​

In the country of 250m people, chocolate consumption per capita hovers around 300g, but sales have steadily risen since 2013 and jumped more than 3% last year, according to research firm Euromonitor.

The two companies committed to the deal last November, expanding a long-term supply agreement originally laid out in 2015. Barry Callebaut also works closely with Indonesian cocoa farmers through its Forever Chocolate campaign, the company noted.

Major players working together

With 18k employees and a distribution network that spans 21 regions, GarudaFood provides Barry Callebaut its first formal collaboration in the Asia Pacific region.

“This partnership marks our entry with chocolate and compound production in Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest country with a population of 250 million and impressive growth rates,” ​said CEO Juergen Steinemann, announcing the original commitment four years ago.

The Switzerland-based company said it would ‘significantly’ increase capacity at its Gresik facility to supply 10k tons of chocolate compound annually to GarudaFood’s local biscuit plant. The arrangement also melded R&D to nurture new products for the Indonesian market.

“Partnering with the GarudaFood Group not only allows us to team up with a leader in one of the most vibrant economies in Asia Pacific but also to gain a strategic foothold in an emerging market that offers further significant growth potential,” ​added Steinemann.

GarudaFood CEO Hardianto Atmadja said he believed the collaboration would “delight our consumers with the best chocolate and products that meet global quality standards.”​

After the opening of this Java factory in August, Atmadja added that the plan buoys GarudaFood’s ‘open innovation strategy’ for what it terms Industry 4.0.

“Barry Callebaut’s broad activities in Indonesia contribute to the economy of this country and further support GarudaFood’s achievement in producing a variety of innovative products – especially value-added chocolate products for consumers in Indonesia and abroad,” ​he said.