Barry Callebaut expands its chocolate business

The Switzerland-based international confectionery group Barry Callebaut has signed an agreement to acquire GKC Foods, one of Australia’s largest chocolate producers, with the aim of expanding its presence in Australia and New Zealand.

The investment will involve upgrading the factory’s existing infrastructure, installing a new state-of-the-art chocolate production line and deploying an integrated management system to enhance automated production. The group is also planning to take on around 50 new employees.

Australia and New Zealand are two of the group’s most dynamic markets and according to Euromonitor have an average chocolate consumption of approximately 5 kilograms per capita, the highest anywhere in the Asia Pacific region.

Barry Callebaut already operates 10 factories in the region (in China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore), where it has more than 1,800 employees, and recently announced the construction of a new chocolate factory in India which is expected to be ready for operation in late 2020.