Ferré & Consulting Blog (English Version)

Barry Callebaut , the world´s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the privately owned Spanish nut manufacturer La Morella Nuts S.A. La Morella Nuts is known as a leading nut specialist producing a variety of high quality nut-based ingredients for the food industry in Europe. The company has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the nuts business with regards to sourcing, processing and innovation that allows for a wide range of products.

Mr. Joaquim M. Barriach, La Morella Nuts S.A. CEO

The acquisition of La Morella Nuts underlines Barry Callebaut´s strategic intention to further strengthen its market position in adjacent products for both its Gourmet + Specialties Products and its Food Manufacturers Products business. Many of Barry Callebaut´s customers are asking for combinations of chocolate and nut products. With the acquisition of La Morella Nuts, Barry Callebaut will become a European leader in nut products extending its existing nut offerings with a wide spectrum of high-quality products, including almonds and hazelnuts, as well as specialty nuts like cashews, pecans, pistachios, macadamia and others.

La Morella Nuts manufactures about 8’000 tonnes of nut specialties per year and generated sales revenue of approx. 40 million CHF (33 million EUR) in 2011 with 90 employees. The company was founded in 1986 in Reus, Spain. La Morella Nuts has two state-of-the-art plants in Castellvell del Camp and Reus, where its headquarters are located. La Morella Nuts will be integrated in Barry Callebaut´s business Region Europe as of January 2012.

Companies Barry Callebaut, La Morella Nuts

Malaysian cocoa plantation owner KLK Selbourne Estate won this year’s Cocoa Industry Award for the best plantation in Malaysia after partnering up with Barry Callebaut for a joint agronomy research program.

The award, handed out by the Malaysian Cocoa Board, evaluated plantations on physical quality of the estate, agronomic practices, management, technology usage and welfare.

At the awarded plantation, Barry Callebaut contributed the research and development facility (a laboratory for fermentation research and a laboratory for agronomy research), the cocoa fermentation unit, as well as the sun and artificial drying unit.

Barry Callebaut initiated the research program with KLK Selborne Estate in collaboration with Switzerland’s Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, the Bolivian consultancy ECOTOP, and the University of Gent in Belgium. The research program focuses on developing new agronomy techniques aimed at increasing plantation yields and enhancing cocoa bean quality while managing cocoa plantations in a sustainable manner in order to ensure their future productivity.

The results of this multi-year trial will subsequently be used to help develop new strategies for increasing cocoa production.

Source: Bakers Journal

Chocolate award, Barry Callebaut, KLK Selbourne Estate

Recently, consumers are more and more consciously looking for products free from certain ingredients such as additives, preservatives or refined sugars. They are constantly balancing their desire for something natural and healthy with something tasty. Barry Callebaut now offers an alternative: Sweet by Fruits. This chocolate is sweetened by all natural fruit sugars, derived entirely from fruits. It functions as an alternative sweetening solution, thus replacing the refined sugar in chocolate.

“We are very excited to launch Sweet by Fruits, the first chocolate on the market with only sugars 100% derived from fruits”, stresses Hans Vriens, chief innovation officer at Barry Callebaut. “This chocolate does not contain any added refined sugar and no added artificial sweeteners. It is made from selected cocoa and sweetened by sugars from fruits such as apples and grapes without compromising in the exquisite taste of our high-quality chocolate.”

Sweet by Fruits is the first chocolate that combines the entire and complex sugar profile of selected fruit and thus forms an answer to the increasing demands for chocolate with ingredients from natural sources, and also excludes potential side effects of some other alternative sweetening solutions. Fruits contain by nature different sugars such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, polyols and complex sugars. Whereas for existing fructose chocolate the fructose is being isolated, and purified, Sweet by Fruits uses the entire sugar profile of the selected fruits.

Source: Confectionery Production

Chocolate Barry Callebaut, Chocolate, Sweet by Fruits

Barry Callebaut continues to focus on convenience and premiumness with the launch of new confectionery decorations, fillings and inclusions.

Barry Callebaut is proud to present Désir, the ultimate chocolate filling with the smoothest bite and the most delightful taste, comparable to an artisanal made ganache. The Désir filling range will help you to create superior chocolate applications, eventually with a personal touch, as they are the ideal interior for high quality moulded products.

Barry Callebaut’s mini decorations nibs, vermicelli, CrisPearls, splitters and blossoms, are small in size but big in style and beauty. Innovative inclusions close the range.

The mini vermicelli decorations have an incomparable taste thanks to the use of quality ingredients and are ideal to decorate pralines, cakes and plated desserts.

For a festive and sophisticated chocolate touch, Barry Callebaut has created mini Blossoms. The irregular and handcrafted character of this decoration allows you to create special effects and highlights.

Mini CrisPearls are made from the finest dark, milk and white chocolate around a crispy toasted biscuit kernel for an overwhelming taste sensation. They can be included in confectionery, ice cream, desserts and pastries for a tasty, crispy bite, or as a seductive, shiny decoration.

Mini splitters are shiny flat shaped chocolate bits, and provide an impressive look and taste eg to create a stracciatella effect in ice cream or to decorate truffles, pralines, cakes, desserts, cakes and roles.

Mini nibs are probably the most typical decorations for Barry Callebaut. They are roasted kernels of the cocoa bean with a refined and intense taste, a mild and pleasant roasted bitterness and fruity notes. They offer a pleasant, mild crunch and enhance the artisanal and authentic character of your products.

Barry Callebaut offers new possibilities when it comes to personalised inclusions eg your logo embossed three dimensional in a real chocolate inclusion.

Barry Callebaut also offers an extensive range of nut products ranging from whole roasted hazelnuts and almonds to fine, pure nut pastes, gianduja’s, praliné’s and so much more. All products are produced in an authentic way. Our hazelnuts and almonds are sourced from the best nut cultivating regions in the world.

Source: Confectionery Production

Chocolate, Ingredients Barry Callebaut, Désir, premium ingredients

Barry Callebaut’s Terra Cacao line has been nominated for a Fi Excellence Award in the confectionery innovation category.

The award recognizes individuals and businesses for their exemplary work and contribution to the industry. Winners are selected by a leading panel of industry experts and will be announced during an awards ceremony on Nov. 29 at the upcoming FI Europe show.

Terra Cacao was originally launched in Feb. 2011 and relies on new cocoa cultivation and fermentation methods developed by Barry Callebaut in collaboration with local cocoa growers. This process is designed to produce virtually zero defects or off flavours, resulting in a 100 per cent natural chocolate with an unprecedented harmony of pure tastes and rich aromas.

For Terra Cacao, Barry Callebaut searches for plantations on flavour-enhancing terroirs in equatorial regions. The cocoa beans are then handpicked at the precise moment when they contain a maximum of flavors and aromas. The cocoa is then fermented with the company’s 100 per cent natural method to enhance even the most delicate flavours and aromas. Afterwards, the beans are roasted in their shells until they release all of their inherent flavours. Finally, the chocolate is conched for hours until the right texture, aroma, taste and flavours are found.

The Terra Cacao range covers several milk and dark chocolate references varying from 33.5 per cent to 70.5 per cent cocoa mass. The line, shaped as callets, is packed in 10 kg bags and will be available to food manufacturers worldwide.

Source: Bakers Journal

Confectionery Barry Callebaut, Terra Cacao

Following the divestment of its European consumer business, Barry Callebaut is further strengthening its footprint in Region Europe. Over the next few months, the company will invest nearly €22 million to upgrade and expand existing facilities. The majority of these investments is planned for 2011 and will be fully operational as of spring 2012.

Massimo Garavaglia, president of Barry Callebaut Western Europe, says, “With the planned investments, we will not only strengthen our industrial footprint in Western Europe, the company’s largest business region. We are also investing in our network of Chocolate Academies to support the further growth of our Gourmet business.”

In order to further optimise the factory network, increase customer proximity as well as to respond to increased demand for solid products, Barry Callebaut is expanding its chocolate moulding capacities by building a new line in Banbury (United Kingdom) and in Meulan (France). In addition, the company is also upgrading the chocolate factory in Banbury, incorporating latest technology and improved service capabilities.

In line with the aim to accelerate the expansion of its Gourmet & Specialties Products business, led by the two global brands Callebaut and Cacao Barry, Barry Callebaut will build a new Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Wieze (Belgium) and is refurbishing its Cacao Barry Chocolate Academy in Meulan (France). At its speciality and decorations plant in Zundert (The Netherlands), the company is establishing a new centre of competence for chocolate decorations, adding to the current Chocolate Academy there.

Source: Confectionery Production

Companies Barry Callebaut, investments

Following the divestment of its European consumer business, Barry Callebaut is further strengthening its footprint in Region Europe. Over the next few months, the company will invest nearly €22 million to upgrade and expand existing facilities. The majority of these investments is planned for 2011 and will be fully operational as of spring 2012.

Massimo Garavaglia, president of Barry Callebaut Western Europe, says, “With the planned investments, we will not only strengthen our industrial footprint in Western Europe, the company’s largest business region. We are also investing in our network of Chocolate Academies to support the further growth of our Gourmet business.”

In order to further optimise the factory network, increase customer proximity as well as to respond to increased demand for solid products, Barry Callebaut is expanding its chocolate moulding capacities by building a new line in Banbury (United Kingdom) and in Meulan (France). In addition, the company is also upgrading the chocolate factory in Banbury, incorporating latest technology and improved service capabilities.

In line with the aim to accelerate the expansion of its Gourmet & Specialties Products business, led by the two global brands Callebaut and Cacao Barry, Barry Callebaut will build a new Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Wieze (Belgium) and is refurbishing its Cacao Barry Chocolate Academy in Meulan (France). At its speciality and decorations plant in Zundert (The Netherlands), the company is establishing a new centre of competence for chocolate decorations, adding to the current Chocolate Academy there.

Source: Confectionery Production

Companies Barry Callebaut, Chocolate, cocoa

Barry Callebaut has announced the sale of its European consumer business Stollwerck to the Belgian Baronie Group. The share deal comprises the entire Stollwerck Group including five factories in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. The transaction also includes a long term supply agreement between Baronie Group and Barry Callebaut for the supply of approximately 25,000 tonnes of liquid chocolate annually as well as the additional supply of cocoa beans and semi finished products.

The two contracting parties agreed not to disclose any financial details of the transaction, which is subject to antitrust assessment. Closing is expected for fall 2011.

Stollwerck, bought by Barry Callebaut in 2002, is a producer of chocolate confectionery products offering an extensive portfolio to most of the important retailers in Europe. Sales revenue of Stollwerck is approximately EUR 500 million and volumes sold are more than 100,000 tonnes. Stollwerck’s volumes consist of private label business, branded chocolate products and co manufacturing for third parties.

Source: Confectionery Production

Companies Baronie, Barry Callebaut, Stollwerck

Leading pod-to-pallet chocolate supplier, Barry Callebaut, is targeting manufacturers in the Americas with a stevia-based dark chocolate for use in multiple applications, including moulding, enrobing and inclusions.

The company said it has replaced sugar in the chocolate with an all-natural sweetener solution consisting of dietary fibres, the polyol erythritol and stevia extract, and added that the formulation has been customised to suit the taste preferences of region Americas.

A spokesperson for Barry Callebaut told ConfectioneryNews.com that the main formulation challenge was finding the right ingredient blends to ensure equivalence in stability, texture and taste:

“We use the fibres and erythritol in a combination that optimizes the sweetness profile of stevia. Only adding stevia extract to chocolate would not work properly.”

Using this combination, it is possible to have a sugar reduction up to 90 per cent in the final product, he added.

Stevia, a South American plant in the sunflower family, has attracted massive interest in the last two years following FDA GRAS (generally recognised as safe) for high purity Reb A as a sweetener in the US in late 2008.

Last October saw Barry Callebaut announce the development of a stevia-based chocolate for Belgian confectioner Cavalier for a tablet product, saying the no sugar-added chocolate was based on a sweetener solution (1/1 replacement of sugar) and the Reb A extract from the stevia plant (Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni).

Swiss confectionery maker, Villars, has released a stevia-based chocolate tablet product and Japanese companies have been manufacturing chocolate products containing the sweetener for many years.

Barry Callebaut said that it intends to target European manufacturers with a stevia-based chocolate ingredient once the regulation allows it.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a positive safety opinion on all steviol glycosides extracts with a high purity, and approval is expected from the European Commission towards the end of 2011.

Source: Confectionery News

Chocolate Barry Callebaut, Chocolate, stevia

Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, announces the launch of the Terra Cacao range: an exciting new innovation in superior tasting chocolate. Based on revolutionary new cocoa cultivation and fermentation methods developed by Barry Callebaut in collaboration with local growers, the Terra Cacao range represents a giant leap forward in terms of both quality and sustainability. Thanks mostly to improvements in the fermentation of the raw cocoa beans, the cocoa used to make Terra Cacao has virtually zero defects or off flavors, resulting in a 100% natural chocolate with an unprecedented harmony of pure tastes and rich aromas.

The Terra Cacao range covers several milk and dark chocolate references varying from 33.5% to 70.5% cocoa mass. The range, shaped as callets, is available for industrial customers worldwide and packed in 10kg bags.

Enhanced Fermentation

The innovation in Terra Cacao is applied after the harvest, during the critical initial fermentation of the cocoa beans at the plantations. Years of painstaking research into the intricacies of this complex process have yielded important insights into how flavor precursors are developed during fermentation. Barry Callebaut has developed a revolutionary technique to naturally enhance this process and promote the growth of the right ferment cultures to awaken even the most delicate and refined flavor precursors in the cocoa beans.

Superior Selection

Terra Cacao is very much a product of Barry Callebaut’s long-standing commitment to fostering sustainability in the cocoa industry through forging close ties with local farming organizations. The process begins with the careful selection of cocoa varieties and growing conditions to ensure the best possible stock. Barry Callebaut seeks out the most favorable altitudes and flavor-enhancing terroirs in equatorial regions where the soil is fertile and farmers tend the trees with patience and respect. Only the best fruits are picked by hand at precisely the right moment, ensuring a maximum of latent flavors and aromas in the bean.

Genuine Craftsmanship

Because the new, advanced fermentation method and sun-drying process produce cocoa beans with virtually zero defects or off-flavors, Barry Callebaut’s master craftsmen can go to work with the very finest ingredients to produce potentially the finest chocolate the world has ever seen or tasted. Mild roasting and patient conching produce a truly exquisite chocolate whose texture, aroma, taste and flavors are blended to perfection.

Nicholas Camu, Fermentation Innovation Manager, Barry Callebaut: “We are extremely proud of the achievement Terra Cacao represents. Years of research, experimentation, trial and error have gone into perfecting the fermentation process to generate vastly superior quality cocoa beans in a 100% natural way. Most importantly, Terra Cacao is helping to build a more sustainable future for the cocoa industry. By improving over all quality, local farmers are able to earn better incomes and thus a better livelihood for themselves and their communities.”

Chocolate, Companies Barry Callebaut, cocoa beans, Terra Cacao