Barry Callebaut organizes CHOCOVISION for the first time

To bring together key players on the decision-making level, Barry Callebaut has organized a neutral platform – CHOCOVISION – and invited major stakeholders from the cocoa, chocolate and retail industries to attend. "Balance the Challenge. From cocoa to chocolate – strategy, sustainability and success", will be the theme of the first issue of CHOCOVISION 2012. The conference, scheduled to take place in Davos, Switzerland from June 5 to 7, 2012 is the first of a series of bi-annual conferences.

Speeches and panel discussions with experts and professionals from all stakeholder groups will focus on strategy, sustainability and success. Besides these three conference sessions, there will be high-profile keynote addresses by world-renowned musician and political activist Sir Bob Geldof and Nobel Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus. They will contribute to the inspirational atmosphere the organizer hopes to create for CHOCOVISION 2012 participants. Attendees of CHOCOVISION 2012 will have the opportunity to network with senior business leaders in the cocoa, chocolate and retail industries, influential politicians from around the world and representatives of prominent NGOs. Hence, the symposium will offer a platform for debate between business and politics, NGOs and scientists, suppliers, farmers and consumers – all key players in the value chain, from the cocoa bean to the chocolate bar.

"There is an obvious need for better alignment and more efficient knowledge transfer as well as pro-active information sharing between all stakeholders in the supply chain, from farmer organizations, certification bodies, cocoa processors, chocolate manufacturers and retailers up to end consumers," says Juergen Steinemann, CEO of Barry Callebaut. "That is why we have initiated CHOCOVISION, a neutral, company-independent, bi-annual platform for informed discussion and debate."

www.chocovision.ch