Chocolate producer Barry Callebaut Group to open a factory in Serbia | Progresiv
The Barry Callebaut Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Serbia and the City of Novi Sad stipulating the construction of the Group’s first chocolate factory in Southeast Europe. 
The state-of-the-art facility will be built in Novi Sad. Initial annual production capacity is expected to surpass 50,000 tonnes. Set to become operational by 2021, the total investment, planned over five years, will reach 56 million dollars. The company plans to employ 100 people in their Novi Sad factory.
Barry Callebaut’s CEO, Antoine de Saint-Affrique called Novi Sad the “perfect location,” pointing to its status as the second largest city in Serbia and access to the University of Novi Sad, one of the largest educational and research centres in Southeastern Europe.
“With the new factory in Novi Sad, in line with our ‘smart growth’ strategy, we will be able to expand our footprint in the region and supply current as well as new customers with a wide range of chocolate, compound and filling products,” he said. “The factory will serve as a regional hub from which Barry Callebaut can address the rapidly growing chocolate markets of Southeastern Europe.”
Barry Callebaut Group also supplies the biggest confectionery companies in the world, like Nestle and Mondelez International, with butter and other chocolate ingredients.
The Group exports its products to 140 countries around the world and has a total of 11,500 employees working in over 30 countries.
The Group was formed by the merger of the Belgian (Callebaut) and the French company (Cacao Barry) in 1996 and is headquartered in Zurich. (www.serbianmonitor.com)
