The Barry Callebaut Group reported sales volume of 565,238 tonnes during the first three months of fiscal year 2024/25 (ended November 30, 2024). The highly challenging and volatile market environment has impacted short-term customer and consumer demand, resulting in a sales volume decrease of 2.7%.  

According to the company, sales revenue amounted to CHF 3.450 bn, an increase of 63.1% in local currencies (+ 53.9% in CHF). The increase was driven by Barry Callebaut's cost-plus pricing model as the business passed through the significantly higher cocoa bean price to customers.

Global Chocolate saw a 3.4% volume decrease, in an overall declining chocolate confectionery market (- 2.6%; source: NielsenIQ volume growth excluding e-commerce – 26 countries, September 2024 - October/November 2024; data subject to adjustment to match Barry Callebaut's reporting period; NielsenIQ data only partially reflects the out-of-home and impulse consumption). Food Manufacturers (- 3.8%) saw slower demand. Given the recent cocoa bean price acceleration, customers have been delaying orders. Volumes also decreased in Gourmet (- 1.5%).

Looking at regional performance within Global Chocolate, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA, + 6.4%) was the strongest contributor. Latin America saw double-digit volume growth (+ 13.2%). North America reported a volume decrease of 1.9%. Central and Eastern Europe (- 4.5%) was impacted by lower volumes for several large global and regional Food Manufacturer customers. Volume development in Western Europe (- 7.5%) was partly impacted by the high base of comparison, with a large one-off contract in the prior year.

Sales volume for Global Cocoa was around flat (+ 0.3%). Demand for cocoa powder remained robust and the business was able to capture some customer opportunities. Cocoa liquor continued to be impacted by the supply constrained environment.