Barry Callebaut supplies chocolate-makers: Salon du Chocolat, Paris, October 2009

Barry Callebaut's chocolate supply samples, Paris Salon du Chocolat, 2009

Zurich / Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The global economic crisis may have served up stress and more stress to many people, but the Swiss chocolate industry appears to be sailing happily through it: Barry Callebaut sales in 2008-2009 rose 4.1 percent in a world market that contracted by 2 percent last year. The Zurich-based company is the world’s largest supplier of top-quality cocoa and chocolate products. Profits also rose, 18.5 percent for net profits in local currencies, but the strong Swiss franc had a negative impact.The company reported 11 November on its fiscal year, which closed 31 August 2009.

Nestle at the same time has offered chocolate lovers good news from its research laboratory near Vevey: 40 grams of dark chocolate a day, one small square, has been shown in tests to reduce stress levels. The research is published in the Journal of Proteome Research.

Volunteers, described as highly stressed inidividuals, who ate dark chocolate daily for two weeks lowered their stress hormone levels. The chocolate consumption also help to correct other stress-related imbalances. ““Consuming dark chocolate daily can positively impact the metabolism of people that report having high-stress levels,” says Sunil Kochhar, Nestlé researcher leading the study.

Juergen Steinemann, CEO, Barry Callebaut

Callebaut’s CEO Juergen B Steinemann was clear that a sound strategy was key to succeeding in an overall falling chocolate market.  “I am pleased that we were able to deliver strong top-line and bottom-line growth in the face of a rarely seen global chocolate consumption decline. After reaching a low in winter 2008, growth resumed and regained momentum in the second half of the year. Our growth strategy based on the three pillars of geographic expansion, innovation and cost leadership, coupled with our robust business model, our diversified product offering and ongoing efficiency improvement initiatives, clearly stood the test of the global economic recession. In this context we took further significant steps such as expanding to new markets (e.g. Mexico), implementing new outsourcing deals (such as Morinaga in Japan) and adding new capabilities (e.g. new pastry fareconfirm our strategic focus on industrial and artisanal customers.

Links to other sites: Barry Callebaut, CNN Money, Journal of Proteome Research article, Nestle research

Background on chocolate: Barry Callebaut’s chocophilia pages

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