Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut has said it plans to close its Stollwerck factory in Cologne and transfer production elsewhere.
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The move is one of several efficiency initiatives that has been announced by the group, which also plans to integrate its three Swiss offices into one.
Stollwerck, a German subsidiary of Barry Callebaut, is to close its factory in Cologne by the end of March 2005, affecting approximately 150 employees. The production will be transferred to other sites operated by the group, primarily to the modern Norderstedt facility near Hamburg. Approximately 80 new jobs will be created in Norderstedt.
“We have reason to believe that the situation in Germany with a still weak domestic economy, strong growth of customer label products and increased price pressure on suppliers, will persist,” said Barry Callebaut’s CEO Patrick De Maeseneire.
“Furthermore, the situation in Germany might soon become manifest in other markets as well because the large retailers are expanding rapidly and consumers everywhere are showing a growing interest for quality at the lowest price,” he added.
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By GlobalData“We are determined to tap into the strong market growth driven by the worldwide demand of the big retailers for customer labels, and we also want to benefit from the demand of the big branded consumer goods companies for moulding and packaging,” De Maeseneire said.
The group also plans to merge its three Swiss offices in the greater Zurich area – Barry Callebaut’s head office in Dübendorf, Barry Callebaut Sourcing in Zug and Barry Callebaut (Switzerland) including the Chocolate Academy in Dübendorf – into one office in Zurich as of the beginning of 2005, in order to achieve operational efficiencies.
The company also announced several management changes, including the appointment of Onno Bleeker, previously president of food manufacturers, as chief operations officer responsible for global production and supply chain.
