Salmonella outbreak leaves Barry Callebaut with a financial hangover

Chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut expects a “notable financial impact” as a result of the temporary closure of its largest factory in Belgium, following a salmonella contamination. 

Production to start up again in August

After Barry Callebaut discovered the presence of salmonella in products from its plant in Wieze – the largest chocolate factory in the world – on 27 June, production there was halted. All production lines are now being thoroughly cleaned and production will only gradually restart early August.

The incident will cost the producer a considerable amount of money, although it is still too early for an exact calculation. “Though the full financial impact of the incident is still being assessed, the Group expects it to be notable for the financial results in the fourth quarter 2021/22”, Barry Callebaut said on the occasion of the publication of its quarterly results. According to analyst Kepler Cheuvreux, the impact could be as much as 10 % of the result in the fourth quarter, or 2 % for the full financial year.

So far, however, things are going well for the Swiss chocolate producer: in the first nine months of its broken financial year, the company saw volumes rise by 7.9 % to almost 1.8 million tonnes. Turnover rose by 13.5 % to more than 6 billion Swiss francs (over six billion euros).