The Barry Callebaut Group, manufacturer chocolate and cocoa products, achieved strong sales volume growth of +8.9% to 610,048 tonnes during the first three months of fiscal year 2021/22 (ended November 30, 2021).
“I am pleased to present strong volume growth for the first three months of the new fiscal year. Chocolate volume growth was particularly strong, outperforming the underlying global chocolate confectionery market. At the same time, Global Cocoa returned to positive growth in a still challenging market environment,” commented Barry Callebaut CEO, Peter Boone.
While this was achieved against a weak comparison base, the company has said it was well ahead of the Group’s pre-COVID-19 volume in 2019/20. 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%). 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 2,032.2 million, up +14.0% in local currencies ( +14.3% in CHF) in the first three months under review. The increase was impacted by the overall inflationary environment, which Barry Callebaut manages through its cost-plus pricing model for the majority of its business.
Looking ahead, CEO Peter Boone said: “With our strong team and sharpened business model, we are confident we will deliver on our mid-term guidance. We are well placed to continue our growth journey in a global market environment which, as expected, is still experiencing the ripple effects of COVID-19, including supply chain bottlenecks and the impact of an imbalanced cocoa market.
Editorial enquiries contact:
Kiran Grewal: kgrewal@kennedys.co.uk
