Barry Callebaut Group, manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products, coatings, and chocolate alternatives, has announced Focus for Growth, an action plan to accelerate operational and financial performance. Serving more than 15,000 customers globally, the Group's plan reflects a clear reset in focus, it says: stabilizing core operations and concentrating resources on a reduced number of priorities with the highest potential for value creation for all stakeholders. 

"Focus for Growth marks a shift toward sharper investment choices combined with driving operating discipline across the Group," says Hein Schumacher, CEO of Barry Callebaut. "Following a period of unprecedented industry disruption and transformation, we must first stabilize our fundamentals, restore customer service, and prioritize customer-centricity. At the same time, we are accelerating our focus on higher-value and differentiated solutions for everyday chocolatey occasions. By focusing on ten must-win markets, prioritizing Gourmet, scaling select Specialties and strengthening our premium offerings across the portfolio, we aim to drive above market volume and revenue growth with enhanced profit and returns. Further, we will continue to diversify our sourcing portfolio as the world's largest cocoa bean processor to safeguard future supply security and enhance operational resilience."

According to the company:

• Across the cocoa, chocolate and food manufacturing segments, long-term structural trends are shifting value toward higher‑quality, differentiated, and responsible solutions.
• Chocolate remains a preferred choice for consumers and is increasingly used in growing segments such as ice cream and healthy snacking options.
• Globally, consumer preferences are increasingly bifurcating between seeking premium experiences and prioritizing value and affordability, which is driving innovation, recipe reformulation, and growth in compounds and fillings.
• Sustainability expectations are rising, with responsible sourcing expected by customers and continuing to be a key differentiator.

Focus for Growth is Barry Callebaut’s response to these evolving consumer preferences: a plan designed to restore execution excellence and capture growth where customers’ needs are evolving fastest, the brand says. It aims to reinforce the strengths of the Group’s integrated business model while intentionally pivoting towards higher‑value, indulgent solution selling, it adds.

Focus for Growth: five strategic growth priorities

Focus for Growth strives to set a clear strategic direction, concentrating Barry Callebaut’s efforts on the areas with the greatest potential to drive long‑term value creation. It is underpinned by five growth priorities, while continuing to strengthen and stabilize the Group’s fundamentals:

Global accounts: unlocking full growth potential with seven targeted global accounts 

• Translating customer growth agendas into clear commercial, innovation and service commitments across regions
• Expanding joint sustainability and cocoa sourcing partnerships
• Strengthening global account leadership under CEO oversight, combining clear direction with strong regional execution

Regional food manufacturers: restoring reliability and capturing growth in 10 priority markets 

• Regaining momentum in mature, high-value markets by strengthening service and quality, defending core positions, and capturing growth in segments such as biscuits, bakery, ice cream, better-for-you, and private label
• Building share in the attractive emerging markets, including Brazil and Indonesia
• Region-specific strategies to ensure a relevant portfolio, including cross-selling of Specialties where it strengthens customer solutions and aligning capacity with regional demand

Gourmet: systematically capturing opportunities in key markets, by enhancing availability of the core portfolio and building a stronger brand and channel proposition

• Building a sharper route-to-market, supported by a focused core portfolio and improved availability
• Strengthening brand positioning with clear premium and mainstream offerings
• Leading chocolate recipe inspiration globally through enhanced digital Callebaut Chocolate Academy experiences

Specialties: scaling select margin-accretive solutions

• Prioritizing high-value added, technologically differentiated categories aligned with Group's capabilities
• Linking Speciality choices to targeted markets and segments across Food Manufacturers and Gourmet, whilst advancing our position as a holistic solutions provider
• Supporting growth opportunities through targeted capacity investments

Cocoa powders: accelerating growth in premium, differentiated segments

• Optimizing portfolio and customer mix toward premium segments and prioritizing developed markets, with selective expansion into high-growth markets
• Accelerating innovation in differentiated and technically complex products such as black, low-fat and organic powders
• Enhancing capacity flexibility and competitiveness across the value chain

Strengthening execution and operational discipline

A central pillar of Focus for Growth is ensuring consistent and reliable execution across the Group, the company notes. According to the brand, this will be driven by:

• Targeted footprint investments, with an initial focus on North America, including scaling the Brantford and Pennsauken sites and strengthening the Group’s Midwest presence, alongside capacity expansion in select emerging markets
• Stronger, integrated sales and operations planning process, supported by global processes and tooling, with regional ownership
• Simplified, more effective customer-facing processes
• Enhanced data and digital capabilities to support decision-making
• Greater end-to-end value chain coordination to enhance agility and capture further opportunities

Focus for Growth: the foundations

Focus for Growth is built on present foundations and on the depth of expertise, experience, and commitment of the Barry Callebaut team across the value chain, it says. Beyond its integrated cocoa‑to‑chocolate footprint, the Group’s strength lies in the knowledge of its people, who understand customers, markets, and operations at scale and in detail, the company adds.

The action plan was developed with a diverse selection of Barry Callebaut’s leadership and experts across the organization, through the Group’s Growth Accelerator Coalition. This internally driven, co‑creation aims to ensure strong ownership, alignment, and commitment to disciplined execution across the organization.

Focus for Growth reaffirms the Group’s non‑negotiables. Quality, safety, and sustainability remain core foundations of Barry Callebaut’s strategy. As the Group sharpens execution and focuses resources behind priority opportunities, it will continue to uphold the highest standards of workplace safety, product quality, and responsible sourcing, it says, ensuring growth is achieved in a way that is resilient, responsible, and sustainable over the long-term.

Related: Barry Callebaut expands its compound portfolio