The Barry Callebaut Group, Zurich, has signed a long-term outsourcing agreement with World's Finest Chocolate, a family-owned business based in Chicago.

Under the terms of the agreement, Barry Callebaut will acquire the industrial chocolate manufacturing assets from World's Finest Chocolate and lease space at the company’s production site in Chicago, establishing a Midwest manufacturing base for the group.

At the same time, Barry Callebaut will supply all of World’s Finest Chocolate’s chocolate demand from the Chicago facility. World's Finest Chocolate will use the supplied liquid chocolate to continue manufacturing high-quality, finished products.

Barry Callebaut will invest CHF 5.1 million ($5.7 million) in fiscal year 2014-15. Deliveries from the new Chicago chocolate manufacturing base will begin March 1. The site will also allow Barry Callebaut to capitalize on growth opportunities with other customers in the region and further strengthen its manufacturing footprint in North America, where it currently operates 11 factories. The company expects production volume from the new factory to achieve 25,000 tonnes per annum in the near term.

“We feel much honored to have been selected by World's Finest Chocolate as their partner of choice,” says Dave Johnson, CEO and president Americas of the Barry Callebaut Group. “This long-term agreement is another important step to strengthen our services for customers in the fast-growing Midwest region of the United States. It also underscores our position as the preferred partner for outsourcing, one of our key growth drivers.”

Edmond Opler, CEO of World’s Finest Chocolate Inc., adds: “Our long-term agreement with the Barry Callebaut Group guarantees the supply of our 75-year-old family recipe continuing to be made in our facility from ‘bean-to-bar’. This partnership allows us to focus our energies on continued growth, manufacturing our finished goods and servicing our many customers.”