Barry Callebaut Acquires Cocoa Factory in Philadelphia 

A good part of the capacity utilization is secured by a long-term supply agreement FPI has with existing customers for the delivery of up to 16,000 metric tons of cocoa liquor and up to 10,000 metric tons of cocoa powder and butter.

08/10/07 Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, announced today that it signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Food Processing International, Inc. (FPI), a cocoa processing company in Eddystone near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. FPI owns a factory with a capacity for cocoa liquor production of 25,000 metric tons per year. Financed by a group of private investors, the factory started production in 2006 and is now fully operational.

A good part of the capacity utilization is secured by a long-term supply agreement FPI has with existing customers for the delivery of up to 16,000 metric tons of cocoa liquor and up to 10,000 metric tons of cocoa powder and butter. Closing of the transaction is expected during October 2007. Barry Callebaut intends to increase the production capacity of the factory to 50,000 metric tons (110 million pounds) within the next 2 to 3 years to meet its own growing needs for semi-finished products as well as to supply third-party customers. The capacity expansion will include pressing, grinding and deodorizing equipment to make cocoa butter and cocoa powder. The total investment amount including the expansion will be CHF 62 million / USD 51 million. With cocoa factories in France, Italy, Belgium, the U.K., Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Brazil, Canada and the U.S., Barry Callebaut has a good factory footprint for cocoa processing with a balance between origin countries and enough production capacity close to its customers in consuming countries. The cocoa processing factory in Eddystone will allow Barry Callebaut to further optimize its factory network and supply chain in North America.

Patrick De Maeseneire, CEO of Barry Callebaut, said: “We are investing in cocoa operations because the taste and the quality of chocolate are already defined at this early processing stage. We need a modern site for the production of semi-finished products such as cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and cocoa powder in the United States to keep up with the current and future expectations of our customers especially in the high-end quality segment, as well as our own internal needs.”