The CEO of Barry Callebaut has said he wants the firm to be the “number one” chocolate maker in South America.

Speaking last week, a day before the opening of Barry Callebaut’s first chocolate factory in South America, Juergen Steinemann told Swiss publication Finanz und Wirtschaft that the new site in Brazil will serve as a platform for growth on the continent.

“First, we will absorb the local needs, and as the awareness of Barry Callebaut increases, the presence of the cocoa factory in Brazil will contribute to this,” Steinemann said.

“Our goal is clear, we want to be the number one producer in the South American chocolate industry, as we are in Europe and North America already,” he added.

Steinemann said Barry Callebaut has appointed an executive responsible for business development in Brazil and that the firm is already looking at expanding into other countries on the continent.

In addition to Brazil, the chocolate market said it considers Colombia, Argentina and Venezuela as “exciting markets”, regardless of economic and political conditions. It also views Chile as “the most stable country on the continent”.

However, despite those ambitions for growth, a spokesman for Barry Callebaut told just-food that the company remains focused on the Brazilian market.

“Our strategic and operational goals are really focused on the Brazilian market. Juergen has just highlighted whether there are some other spots in the South American market we are thinking of potentially entering there,” the spokesman said.

just-food is the world’s leading portal for the global pre-packaged food and retail industries. Its daily mix of breaking news, views, analysis and research serves over 100,000 food executives each month. http://www.just-food.com/

Share