12 Facts About Barry Callebaut

Barry Callebaut is a Belgian-Swiss cocoa processor and chocolate manufacturer, with an average annual production of 2.

Cacao Barry was founded in Hardricourt, France in 1842, by Charles Barry, an Englishman with a passion for exploring Africa.

Barry Callebaut was a Belgian company, founded by Eugenius Barry Callebaut as a brewery in Wieze, Belgium, in 1850.

That same year, Barry Callebaut gained access to the South American market when it bought the Brazilian company Chadler Industrial de Bahia.

In 2007, Barry Callebaut signed an agreement with fellow Swiss brand Nestle to buy its French site in Dijon, plants for the production of cocoa and liquid chocolate in bulk at the Italian site in San Sisto, and to supply Nestle with 43,000 tonnes of chocolate products per year in France, Italy and Russia.

Related searches

In 2009, Barry Callebaut bought the Spanish chocolate producer Chocovic S A These international acquisitions took place in the space of a few years, leading CEO De Maeseneire to announce, "We did not want Barry Callebaut to be merely European, we wanted it to become a global company".

In 2017, Barry Callebaut acquired D'Orsogna Dolciaria, an Italian company based in Abruzzo and specialised in the production of amaretto biscuits, confectionery decorations and similar products.

Barry Callebaut presented what it calls "the fourth type of chocolate" at a private event held for industry experts in Shanghai, since the company sees China as a privileged market for its business.

In 2005, Barry Callebaut introduced a "healthy" chocolate product called ACTICOA, which contains higher levels of polyphenol antioxidants than any other chocolate; some evidence indicates these flavanols have particular health benefits.

Report accused Barry Callebaut of endangering the forest habitats of chimpanzees, elephants and other wildlife populations by purchasing cocoa linked to deforestation.

Barry Callebaut was notified of the findings of Mighty Earth's investigation and did not deny that the company sourced its cocoa from protected areas in the Ivory Coast.

In 2021, Barry Callebaut was named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former child slaves from Mali who allege that the company aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast.