The Barry Callebaut Group saw a slight sales volume decline of 1.1% to 2.281 m tonnes in fiscal year 2022/23 (ended August 31, 2023).  

According to the company, volumes were negatively affected by the prior year's salmonella incident in Wieze which continued to impact results in Q1 2022/23, as well as by the weaker customer demand and increasing raw material prices.

The chocolate business reported a decline of 2.0%, with the global chocolate confectionery market declining 1.0% (source: Nielsen volume growth excluding e-commerce – 26 countries, September 2022 to August 2023, data subject to adjustment to match Barry Callebaut’s reporting period; Nielsen data only partially reflects the out-of-home and impulse consumption).

While EMEA volume declined in the first half of the year, recovery of 3.2% growth in the second half resulted in flat performance of - 0.4% in the year. Asia Pacific and Americas both continued to see softer customer demand amid challenging markets, declining 2.0% and 4.6% in the year respectively.

Outsourcing (strategic partnership) volumes grew 1.7% (+ 4.8% in Q4). Gourmet & Specialties declined 4.8% due to lower demand and temporary stock unavailability earlier in the year due to the Wieze incident, but gradually recovered and ended the final quarter positive at 0.2%. Emerging Markets were broadly flat at - 0.2%. Sales volume in Global Cocoa increased to 467,877 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%.

Sales revenue amounted to CHF 8.471 bn, up 9.7% in local currencies (+ 4.7% in CHF). The increase was driven by high raw material price increases and the overall inflationary environment. Gross profit exceeded volume performance and amounted to CHF 1.349 bn, up 16.0% in local currencies (+ 10.8% in CHF). Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to CHF 659.4 m, up 12.2% in local currencies (+ 5.6% in CHF).

Peter Feld, CEO of Barry Callebaut Group, said: "Our purpose is to create the world's best chocolate solutions for our customers – now and in the future. As the leader in the attractive, growing chocolate ingredients market and given our strength in sustainability and innovation, we are ideally positioned to outgrow the market. Our strategic growth priorities in combination with our BC Next Level investment program set the course for sustainable profitable growth and higher cash generation. We will deliver to our customers better value, service, quality, and sustainability and make Barry Callebaut a much more resilient and profitable business, creating long-term value for all our stakeholders.”