Barry Callebaut has announced the groundbreaking 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 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.

Callebaut breaks ground on India facility

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 says it 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 said to be 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.

“As a global leader in the chocolate industry, we are excited about India’s great growth potential,” said Ben De Schryver, President of Barry Callebaut in Asia Pacific. “The new factory will be one of our biggest locations in Asia and it will enable us to meet customers’ growing demands for high-quality chocolate in India. We are proud to deepen our presence here and to continue to invest in a country that has been so welcoming to us for more than a decade. Our expansion will support our business volume growth and ambition to become the leading industrial chocolate manufacturer in India.”

India is one of the fastest growing markets for the chocolate confectionery industry. Sales volume of chocolate confectionery in India grew +16% in 2018 (+6.5% CAGR 2013-2018), according to Nielsen. The chocolate confectionery market in India is expected to continue to show strong growth in the coming five years, according to Euromonitor.