Barry Callebaut plans to triple chocolate production capacity in Côte d’Ivoire

Swiss chocolate and cocoa group Barry Callebaut plans to triple the capacity of its chocolate production line in Côte d’Ivoire as part of a 10-year growth programme focused on the world’s largest cocoa-producing country, the company’s chief executive said on Tuesday.

Barry Callebaut CEO Hein Schumacher made the announcement during a meeting with Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Handicrafts Kalil Konaté in Abidjan on Oct. 6. Schumacher was accompanied by the group’s Africa vice president Emmanuel Toureille and Mamadou Ly, managing director of the group’s Ivorian subsidiary, Société Africaine de Cacao (SACO).

“We have a growth programme for the next 10 years, which is based on Côte d’Ivoire,” Schumacher said, according to the ministry. The group also plans to diversify its chocolate offering to meet growing demand in Côte d’Ivoire and across regional markets.

Barry Callebaut currently operates two industrial facilities in Côte d’Ivoire and mobilises about 3,000 people through its operations and service providers. The company has a cocoa-bean grinding capacity of 230,000 tonnes and purchases about 210,000 tonnes of beans from around 250,000 cocoa farmers, according to the Ivorian government.

The planned expansion comes as Côte d’Ivoire seeks to increase the amount of cocoa processed locally and capture more value from its leading agricultural export. The government has encouraged Barry Callebaut to expand investment, establish partnerships with Ivorian companies and consider industrial facilities closer to cocoa-producing areas.

The discussions also highlighted challenges facing the cocoa industry, including an expected decline in the harvest, crop diseases, port congestion and energy constraints. The government said it was considering measures to improve logistics infrastructure and support investors.

Barry Callebaut has operated in Côte d’Ivoire for decades through SACO. In 2019, the group announced a 30 billion CFA franc investment to expand cocoa-processing capacity in the country, including a new grinding unit in Abidjan. Its two major cocoa-grinding plants are located in Abidjan and San Pedro.

For Côte d’Ivoire, the planned expansion comes as the country seeks to move beyond exporting raw cocoa beans toward greater local processing and chocolate production. For Barry Callebaut, the investment reinforces Côte d’Ivoire’s role as a key industrial base for its cocoa and chocolate operations in Africa.