Mondelez in trouble because of Barry Callebaut

The salmonella contamination in Barry Callebaut‘s Belgian chocolate factory at the end of June is causing certain Mondelez products to become unavailable. The situation could last for months.

International problem

The biscuit producer has seen the availability of a whole range of products severely limited, especially brands like Mikado, Petit Ecolier, Granola, Pépito and Pim’s. For once, this was not because of conflicts with supermarkets or high raw material prices, but because of the salmonella outbreak in Barry Callebaut’s Belgian factory on 27 June.

Although production has resumed in the world’s largest chocolate factory, the supply of chocolate masses with the necessary specifications for the biscuits has not yet returned to normal, Mondelez explains. As a result, the production of certain references is currently delayed and the biscuits are therefore not available on the shelves. Mondelez’s French factory in Cestas has been closed for two months since the contamination occurred at the supplier’s site.

At the moment, only three of the 24 lines in the Callebaut factory in Wieze are working again, after a six-week shutdown. The other production lines are still being cleaned, so the delays could last for some time. In French and Belgian supermarket shelves, the shortages are already making themselves felt, making Pim’s and Mikado with milk chocolate are temporarily unavailable.