27 April 2012 --- Barry Callebaut’s Gourmet brand Callebaut has taken an important step into the future by launching its ‘Growing Great Chocolate’ campaign that shifts the entire production of the ‘Finest Belgian Chocolate’ to sustainable cocoa as from May 1st , 2012. Since 100 years already, Callebaut is the preferred partner-chocolate brand for food professionals and craftsmen all over the world.  As of today, the chocolate will be made exclusively with sustainable cocoa, which recognizes Callebaut customers’ requirements for high-quality chocolate that comes with a guarantee of sustainable cultivation. With the ‘Growing Great Chocolate’ campaign Callebaut invites its customers to discover the fascinating story behind their trusted, high-quality chocolate, starting right at the bean.

‘Growing Great Chocolate’: sharing a story of quality and sustainability

With this new campaign, Callebaut highlights the three most important characteristics of its chocolate, namely the use of sustainably grown cocoa, great taste and great workability, and invites chocolate artisans around the world to explore the exciting story from bean to chocolate behind the ‘Finest Belgian Chocolate’ they use.

“For Callebaut that thrilling story starts right at the bean”, says Pascale Meulemeester, Vice President Global Gourmet Brand Marketing.” With ‘Growing Great Chocolate’ we share with our customers the fascinating story behind our products. And we guarantee them that each bean used for producing this chocolate, comes from a sustainable cultivation.”

More and more consumers want to know where their food comes from. They are interested in and eager to find out the story behind the products they buy. Therefore, ‘Growing Great Chocolate’, also encourages food professionals to share this story of great chocolate with their clients. Through different tools such as booklets, posters, labels and a special app for personalized advertising, Callebaut customers can communicate their choice of sustainable chocolate to their clients. More information on these tools and the campaign can be found on www.growinggreatchocolate.com (At the moment, the website is only available in English; other languages will follow soon).

Great chocolate, today and tomorrow

Through ‘Growing Great Chocolate’ Callebaut actively supports farmer cooperatives in learning about and adopting innovative and modern agricultural practices, which are offered through farmer training programs in the field. Thus, Callebaut is able to ensure sustainable cocoa cultivation and helps to raise farmer’s livelihoods. Moreover, Callebaut also strives to improve the overall quality of life of the cocoa farmers and their families by offering them improved access to health care and education.

Great Taste & Workability

Great taste doesn’t only come with great cocoa beans. The local selection and sourcing plays an important role; but much also depends on the roasting and blending techniques. Today Callebaut is the only Belgian chocolate couverture maker that still blends and roasts the cocoa beans itself. The unique expertise of Callebaut’s Master Blenders and Roasters is passed on from generation to generation, guaranteeing a consistent taste and quality. Lastly, the extremely fine grinding and conching of the cocoa by Callebaut’s experts contributes highly to the exquisite taste and workability of Callebaut’s ‘Finest Belgian Chocolate’. This makes Callebaut the only Belgian couverture chocolate maker that works across the entire value chain – from cocoa bean to the finished chocolate product – while guaranteeing the highest level of quality and transparent sourcing.