Barry Callebaut, the largest chocolate maker in the world, has announced the development of the “Volcano” chocolate bar. Supposedly, this bar is low in calories and does not melt at temperatures below 131º Fahrenheit (or 55º Celsius). Ordinary chocolate starts melting around 90º Fahrenheit.
Klaus Jacobs dies
Growing up in Germany, my favorite chocolate bar was Suchard Milka, either in the milk chocolate, the chocolate-hazelnut, or the noisette flavor. Birthdays and visits of relatives were always occasions to get a new stash of Suchard. But these did not last very long. The first bar usually disappeared within a few minutes after I got it. I would just sneak away from the commotion created by arriving relatives, tear into a bar and wolf down a few pieces. Thinking about it now, I must have displayed all the signs of an addict getting his fix.
Price of Chocolate to Rise
The CEO of Barry Callebaut announced that chocolate prices will rise between 15 and 18 percent. Reuters reports that Patrick de Maeseneire told the Handelszeitung in Switzerland that raw materials contribute about 25 percent to the total price of a 100 gram chocolate bar and that cocoa, in turn, represents half of that. Since cocoa prices have doubled over the past year and other commodities like milk and sugar have increased in price as well, Mr. de Maeseneire reasoned that a 15-18 percent price increase is warranted.
The Largest Chocolate Maker You Never Heard Of
Yesterday, Barry Callebaut released its sales figures for the first nine months of the current fiscal year. By all measures, it was a successful period. Sales volume amounted to 872993 metric tonnes of chocolate, a growth rate of 10 percent which the company claims is three times the growth rate of the global chocolate market as a whole. In its press release, the company also reported an 18.6 percent growth in sales revenue. Its chief growth areas were Europe and the Americas with Asia and the rest of the world lagging behind.
So who are these folks that are expanding at a time of record high cocoa prices and a global economic down turn? Continue reading “The Largest Chocolate Maker You Never Heard Of”
