The Barry Callebaut Group announced a major expansion to its manufacturing facility in Singapore which will be used to drive continued growth and expand production capability to meet demand for more chocolate in the region.

The latest expansion which involves a total investment of US$18 million (CHF 18 million) includes the installation of a third production line, a chocolate chips/drops molding line and a warehouse.

“This expansion is a strong sign of our commitment to Singapore and the Asia Pacific region,” said Barry Callebaut Group CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique at the commissioning of the new production and chips line yesterday in Singapore. “We have a growing customer base in Asia Pacific and we are committed to serving these customers with an always greater level of efficiency.’’

The new chocolate chips/drops molding line allows the production of different recipes or product shapes sizes to satisfy a key market requirement. The facility also now houses a 2600 m² of warehouse space to facilitate quicker and efficient deliveries of its chocolate products due to greater flexibility with stock-holding.

The majority of the chocolate produced in the factory in Singapore are largely exported to global and local food manufacturers across the region.

The manufacturing plant, located on a 1.2-hectare site in Senoko South Road near Woodlands, is also the first industrial chocolate factory in Singapore. Barry Callebaut’s presence in Singapore traces back to July 1997 when the company chose Singapore as its headquarters to reach out to the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

“Barry Callebaut has its history in Singapore and the new expansion in this country will further optimize our footprint while further growing our business to meet the growing demand in this region,” said Ben De Schryver, Asia Pacific President of Barry Callebaut. “This expansion demonstrates our commitment to bring efficiencies into our own organization and will bring us that added competitive advantage.”

Besides the three lines for chocolate manufacturing, the facility also houses a Chocolate Academy which test and develop new chocolate products and recipes, as well as help us with training and demonstrations for chocolate artisans, pastry chefs, confectioners, bakers and caterers.

Today the company has more than 200 employees in Singapore and its sales office in Millenia Tower also houses its regional sales, supply chain management and corporate functions teams.

Barry Callebaut’s announcement of its business expansion in Singapore follows closely on the heels of the company’s official opening of its new chocolate production facility in Indonesia. Barry Callebaut has a total of 9 factories located in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.