Barry Callebaut to sell chocolate factory in France

Barry Callebaut, a Switzerland-based manufacturer of cocoa and chocolate products, has agreed to sell its factory and the related business in Dijon, France, to a new chocolate firm Chocolaterie de Bourgogne.

The deal is part of the Swiss company’s plan to focus completely on business-to-business sales and avoid competition with its customers in the retail market.

Chocolaterie de Bourgogne, which has been established to acquire Barry Callebaut’s factory in Dijon, is owned and managed by a team headed by Philippe de Jarcy, the current CEO of German confectioner Hahne.

It has annual revenues of €80m and employs 278 staff at the Dijon site.

The owners of Chocolaterie de Bourgogne plan to boost revenue by 50% to €120m over the next four years by selling chocolate-based consumer products in Europe and North America and in emerging markets including South America, Russia, China and India.

In addition, to support the newly-formed business, Barry Callebaut has signed an agreement to source 12,000t of liquid chocolate per year from Chocolaterie de Bourgogne for a period of five years.

The transaction will be implemented after the completion of the information and consultation process with the works council.

Due to this divesture, Barry Callebaut expects to post a one-off loss of approximately CHF65m ($70m) for fiscal year 2011/12.

Following the transaction, Barry Callebaut will exit from all of its consumer activities – the Dijon plant was the last consumer factory under its European Consumer Products business after it sold Stollwerck to Belgian firm Baronie.

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Image: Under the deal, Barry Callebaut will source 12,000t of liquid chocolate per year from Chocolaterie de Bourgogne for a period of five years. Photo courtesy of Barry Callebaut.