Barry Callebaut Group reports strong volume growth

While this was achieved against a weak comparison base, it was well ahead of the Group’s pre-Covid-19 volume in 2019/20 (585,620 t). According to the company, organic volume growth was 8.1% in the period under review, excluding the first-time consolidation of Europe Chocolate Company (ECC) as of September 2021.

The chocolate business showed particularly strong volume growth of 9.6%, clearly outpacing the underlying global chocolate confectionery market (+ 3.1%; source: Nielsen volume growth excluding e-commerce – 25 countries, September to October 2021, data subject to adjustment to match Barry Callebaut’s reporting period; Nielsen data only partially reflects the out-of-home and impulse consumption). All regions and key growth drivers contributed to these strong results: Gourmet & Specialties (+ 33.8%), Emerging Markets (+ 11.0%), Outsourcing (+ 4.5%). Global Cocoa reported positive volume growth of 6.0% in an ongoing challenging market environment.

Sales revenue amounted to CHF 2.032 bn, up 14.0% in local currencies (+ 14.3% in CHF) in the first three months under review.