Barry Callebaut launches AI innovation center for chocolate in Singapore
Key takeaways
- Barry Callebaut opens a global innovation center in Singapore, featuring the “world’s first” AI center of excellence for chocolate.
- The move reinforces Singapore as a regional innovation hub amid cocoa price volatility and reduced consumer demand.
- The launch aligns with major factory upgrades and AI-driven, cocoa-free product partnerships.
(All image credits: Barry Callebaut).Barry Callebaut has opened a global innovation center in Singapore to pioneer chocolate product development using AI. The move is the latest in a string of investments from the company as it bounces back from industry-wide cocoa price hits and softened consumer demand.
Located at Geneo in Singapore Science Park, the Callebaut Global Innovation Center (GIC) combines two Centers of Excellence (CoEs): the “world’s first” AI CoE dedicated to chocolate and cocoa, and its Cacao Coatings CoE.
The Cacao Coatings CoE in Singapore is Barry Callebaut’s first CoE dedicated to advancing innovation and customer solutions in cacao coatings (compounds). It focuses on breakthrough product development in coatings and fillings, building deep formulation and application expertise to deliver scalable portfolios and customized brand solutions across markets.
The Geneo site also houses the Callebaut Chocolate Academy Singapore alongside a regional R&D facility. The academy provides a “unique customer experience” by translating consumer trends and customer briefs into innovative concepts.
A new state‑of‑the‑art pilot lab at the company’s Senoko chocolate factory complements these capabilities, creating a fully interconnected platform for innovation and scalable production. This pilot lab enables rapid prototyping, small‑batch production, and process testing.
Barry Callebaut expands AMEA presence
Barry Callebaut has been present in Singapore for almost 30 years, with the region’s largest industrial chocolate factory in Senoko, its AMEA regional headquarters, and now the Global Innovation Center.
“The establishment of our GIC in Singapore represents a significant milestone in Barry Callebaut’s growth journey. Singapore’s world-class infrastructure, availability of talent pool, and proximity to dynamic markets in the region make it the ideal location to drive chocolate innovation at scale,” says Vamsi Mohan Thati, president of AMEA at the company.
“With strong support from the Singapore government, this center strengthens our ability to co-create with customers, accelerate business transformation, and reinforce Singapore’s role as a global hub for food innovation.”
AI’s transformative role in chocolate
Amr Arafa, chief digital officer at Barry Callebaut, highlights the transformative role of AI in the chocolate and cocoa industry.
The Callebaut Global Innovation Center’s R&D lab supports the creation of chocolate and cacao coating applications, such as ice creams and pastries.“AI is redefining how we imagine, design, and deliver chocolate and cocoa experiences. By embedding AI into our innovation ecosystem, we are unlocking new possibilities from predictive flavor development to personalized customer solutions,” he says.
“The GIC in Singapore goes beyond immediate innovation, establishing the digital infrastructure that will shape tomorrow’s chocolate experiences.”
The center will host more than 30 specialized roles, including AI engineers, food scientists, chefs, application technologists, process technicians, and customer experience specialists.
“Since Barry Callebaut’s founding, chocolate and cocoa have been at the heart of our heritage and innovation. Today, we are strategically expanding our capabilities to create immersive chocolate experiences that delight customers worldwide,” says Dries Roekaerts, president of customer experience.
The company has also partnered with Chile-based NotCo AI to integrate AI into chocolate recipe development.
Barry Callebaut’s recent investments
Barry Callebaut is investing €250 million (US$297 million) in its Wieze facility in Belgium — the world’s largest chocolate factory — as part of a multi-year plan to modernize production lines and improve operational safety. A further €125 million (US$149 million) will go toward upgrading the company’s factory in Halle, Belgium.
The Swiss-based company has been pursuing a diversification strategy alongside its core operations amid recent volatility in the global cocoa market. Its Q1 results reveal that the chocolate industry is still struggling to recover from last year’s cocoa price crisis.
It recently entered a long-term partnership with Planet A Foods to scale ChoViva, a cocoa-free chocolate alternative made from sunflowers and oats. Alvaro Alonso, president of Western Europe at Barry Callebaut, and Max Marquart, CEO of Planet A Foods, told us about their plans to scale the chocolate alternative worldwide at ISM & ProSweets 2026.
Barry Callebaut recently released its “Top Chocolate Confectionery Trends 2026 & Beyond” report, which frames the company’s commercial outlook around smaller, everyday indulgence occasions — a shift it terms “Minorstone Confectionery.”
Innova Market Insights data underscores the challenge facing chocolate manufacturers. The global chocolate confectionery market continues to grow in value terms but decline in volume — a pattern of price-driven revenue masking weakening consumption.
