$560 million will be invested by Barry Callebaut to enhance customer service.
ZURICH Chocolate and cocoa product maker Barry Callebaut intends to invest 500 million Swiss francs ($560 million) over the next two years in efficiency improvements and key customer areas, which should result in a 250 million Swiss franc annual cost reduction.
The initiative, dubbed BC Next Level, will see three regions become five, a customer supply and development organization formed, and six executive committee members down from nine.
On November 1st, Peter Vanneste, who was previously the chief financial officer of the personal hygiene company Ontex, will take over as CFO at Barry Callebaut. Two of his more than fifteen years at Jacobs Douwe Egberts were spent in the role of CFO. The current CFO, Ben De Schryver, will take over as North America’s regional president.
“This is the right time to take the group to the next level by strategically investing in its future,” stated Peter Feld, CEO of Barry Callebaut, a Zurich-based company, in response to changing consumer demands for more inventive and sustainable products. “We will promote simplicity and digitization while bringing decision-making closer to our markets and customers to advance our well-known innovation and sustainability approach to deliver additional value for all of our stakeholders.”
Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa will be the divided regions.
The 500 million Swiss franc investment will go toward quality, innovation, service, and sustainability. Digital channels will accelerate time to market. Funding for the investment will come from available funds. The majority of the savings will be attained through shared service center utilization, manufacturing footprint optimization, cost-to-serve reduction in operations, streamlined enabling functions, and an emphasis on end-to-end supply chain performance.
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Mr. Vanneste, Clemens Woehrle, PhD, and Jutta Suchanek, who will join Barry Callebaut on October 1st as chief people and diversity officer and chief customer supply and development officer, respectively, will be new members of the executive committee. Prior to joining Barry Callebaut, Ms. Suchanek held positions at Syngenta and GfK SE, a market research firm, where she served as chief diversity and human resources officer. Most recently, Dr. Woehrle served as the chief operating officer of WMF Group, a manufacturer of cookware and automatic coffee makers.
Jo Thys, who is currently Barry Callebaut’s chief operations officer, will take over as president of operations strategy and innovation, reporting directly to Dr. Woehrle. The region’s regional president for Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa will be Vamsi Mohan Thati.
Rogier van Sligter, president of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; Steve Woolley, president and CEO of Americas; and Masha Vis-Mertens, chief human resources officer, are all departing Barry Callebaut to pursue other professional endeavors.On November 1st, Barry Callebaut will give a strategic update, additional information, and mid-term guidance related to BC’s next step.