Barry Callebaut Building New Chocolate Plant in India

Cocoa processor and chocolate maker Barry Callebaut recently broke ground on a new chocolate and compound manufacturing plant in Baramati, India, the company announced Tuesday. The project represents the largest investment made by the company in the country. 

Once operational, the facility will produce 30,000 tn/yr of chocolate and compound. Assembly lines installed at the site can produce products in a variety of delivery formats for various end-users, including international food manufacturing firms, local confection producers, and semi-industrial bakers and patisseries. 

“As a global leader in the chocolate industry, we are excited about India’s great growth potential. The new factory will be one of the biggest locations in Asia and it will enable us to meet customers’ growing demands for high-quality chocolate in India,” said Ben De Schryver, president of Barry Callebaut in Asia Pacific, in a company press release. “We are proud to deepen our presence here and to continue to invest in a country that has been so welcoming for us for more than a decade. Our expansion will support our business volume growth and ambition to become the leading industrial chocolate manufacturer in India.”

The 20,000-m2 facility and a new warehouse is slated to become operational by mid-2020. 100 to 120 people will be employed in the plant, primarily in engineering and production roles. 

India is a major growth market for chocolate confectionery products, with sales volumes climbing by over 16% in 2018, research by Nielsen said. Business intelligence firm Euromonitor posits that strong growth will be sustained in India over the next five years.  

“As an innovation leader, we are proud to bring our innovative capabilities into a market where domestic chocolate production is increasing. We have experienced double-digit growth in India over the last three years. Our confidence in the future development of the chocolate market in India, together with the desire to better serve our customers in India, has prompted the expansion of our footprint and services,” Dhruva Jyoti Sanyal, managing director of Barry Callebaut India, said in a statement. 

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