The Barry Callebaut Group, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, announced the ground-breaking for the construction of its new chocolate and compound manufacturing facility in Baramati/India – about 250 km south-east of Mumbai. Upon completion, the new chocolate factory and warehouse will include state-of-the-art assembly lines capable of manufacturing chocolate and compound in different delivery formats, catering to the various needs of its customers – international food manufacturers, local confectioneries and semi-industrial bakers and patisseries.
The new greenfield facility in Baramati will cover a total of 20,000 m2 and is scheduled to be operational by mid-2020. Once fully operational, it will have an annual production capacity of more than 30,000 tons of chocolate and compound and employ between 100 to 120 people, thus creating new skilled jobs, mainly in engineering and production.
The factory in Baramati will also be equipped with an R&D lab. Furthermore, together with its existing Chocolate Academy Center in Mumbai, the company intends to advance its work with customers to co-create innovative chocolate for local consumers. This week, Barry Callebaut also moved its sales operations into a new, larger office in Mumbai.
The realization of the plant represents Barry Callebaut’s biggest investment in India. This expansion of the group’s footprint in India is tied to the country’s rapidly developing demand for high-quality chocolate, and will serve to meet the growing needs of Barry Callebaut’s customers.