Barry Callebaut: volume growth across all regions and product groups

Barry Callebaut achieved very good volume growth across all regions and product groups in a global chocolate confectionery market that grew 2.5% (source: Nielsen chocolate confectionery sales in volume, August 2017 to April 2018 – 25 countries). The volume increase was supported by all key growth drivers, Gourmet & Specialties (+ 7.8%), Outsourcing (+ 6.2%) and Emerging Markets (+ 8.8%). The volume growth in Q3 (+ 4.8%) was strong on top of a good base from prior year. Sales revenue in the period under review amounted to CHF 5.2 bn, a decline of 2.4% in local currencies (- 0.2% in CHF) due to lower raw material prices, which the Group passes on to its customers for a large part of its business.

CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique said: “Looking at market trends and market dynamics, we continue to see many growth opportunities and are confident that this, together with the diligent execution of our ‘smart growth’ strategy, will allow us to deliver on our 4-year guidance” (on average for the 4-year period 2015/16 to 2018/19: 4-6% volume growth and EBIT above volume growth in local currencies, barring any major unforeseen events).