The chocolate tastes bitter at Barry Callebaut

Supply chain disruptions caused by the war in Iran and overcapacity in the cocoa market are leading to declining sales for Swiss chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut, which expects only a slight improvement in the second half of its fiscal year.

Perfect storm

Barry Callebaut saw revenue decline by more than 7% in the first half of its fiscal year to 6.75 billion Swiss francs (7.3 billion euros). At constant exchange rates, the decline was 3.7%. Sales volumes fell by 6.9% to 1.01 million tons. Operating profit fell by 4.2% to 310.9 million Swiss francs (337 million euros).