Food products High cocoa prices drive Barry Callebaut's sales

Chocolate producer Barry Callebaut increased its sales in the first nine months of its fiscal year. However, this is primarily due to prices, which the company has increased further due to the rising cost of cocoa beans.

In total, the world's largest chocolate company earned 7.3 billion Swiss francs from September 2023 to May of this year, 16% more than in the previous year. In local currencies, the increase would have been as much as 23 percent.

In a statement on Thursday, the company explained this increase primarily with price increases. On average, cocoa bean prices were 130% higher than in the same period last year. Barry Callebaut can largely pass on higher costs to industrial customers as part of its so-called "cost-plus" model.

In terms of volume, there was also a slight increase of 0.4% over the entire period. In the third quarter (March to May), however, sales volumes fell slightly by 0.3%, as detailed in the press release. In absolute figures, the Group sold 1.7 million tons of chocolate.

For the full year, Barry Callebaut is sticking to its sales volume targets in line with the previous year (sales volume 2022/23: 2.281 million tons). Operating profit adjusted for one-off restructuring measures and reported in local currencies is also expected to remain constant (EBIT 2022/23: CHF 659.4 million).

Meanwhile, the company believes it is on track with its restructuring program, as Chief Financial Officer Peter Vanneste says in the press release.