Barry Callebaut and Unilever sign long-term partnership agreement
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Barry Callebaut and Unilever sign long-term partnership agreement
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Barry Callebaut to become strategic Unilever partner
* Barry Callebaut to become global partner of Unilever for cocoa and
chocolate, doubling its current Unilever volumes
* Delivery of 70% of Unilever´s global cocoa and chocolate needs
London/Rotterdam/Zurich, 23(rd) January 2012 - Barry Callebaut AG, the world´s
leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products and Unilever,
one of the world´s foremost consumer goods companies and global market leader in
ice cream, announced today the signing of a new long-term global partnership
agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Barry Callebaut will become
Unilever´s strategic global supplier and innovation partner of choice for its
cocoa and chocolate needs.
This new global supply agreement builds on the existing long-standing working
relationship and will nearly double Barry Callebaut´s current volumes with
Unilever. Ultimately Barry Callebaut will provide 70% of Unilever´s global cocoa
and chocolate products. This will be achieved under a wide-ranging joint
business development plan involving close co-operation across the areas of
innovation, sustainable sourcing, capacity expansion and value improvement.
Kevin Havelock, President of Unilever´s Refreshment Category, said: "Our Ice
Cream category has a significant role to play in Unilever´s sustainable growth
model to deliver our ambition of doubling the size of our business whilst
reducing our environmental impact. Our leadership position has been built on
great taste, innovation and increasingly sustainable ingredients. We need
partners like Barry Callebaut to help us extend this position and achieve our
overall aim."
As a result of the agreement, Barry Callebaut will invest approximately CHF 22
million (EUR 18 million / USD 24 million) in its worldwide factory network in
order to prepare the capacity required to fulfill the long-term partnership
agreement. The additional volumes have a ramp-up period of 12 months, starting
immediately.
Juergen Steinemann, CEO of Barry Callebaut, said: "We are honored that we can
announce this long-term partnership with Unilever today and be part of their
"Partner to Win" strategy. This agreement is based on a successful long-standing
collaboration between our two companies. Once again, it confirms that by living
our four strategic pillars[1] we can accomplish and deliver on the requirements
of our customers."
Barry Callebaut has already been an active partner in developing one of
Unilever´s most successful ice cream brands, Magnum(®), including supporting the
launch of this iconic brand across various regions in the last year.
Barry Callebaut has also been working closely with Unilever to meet its
sustainable cocoa sourcing commitments.
The parties agreed not to disclose any further terms of the agreement.
[1] Expansion, Cost Leadership, Innovation and Sustainable Cocoa.
***
About Unilever (www.unilever.com):
Unilever works to create a better future every day. We help people feel good,
look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for
them and good for others.
Unilever is one of the world´s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods
with strong operations in more than 100 countries and sales in 180. Consumers
buy 170bn Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used
over two billion times a day.
Our portfolio includes some of the world´s best known and most loved brands
including twelve EUR1 billion brands, and global leadership in many categories in
which we operate. The portfolio features iconic brands such as: Knorr,
Hellmann´s, Lipton, Dove, Vaseline, Persil, Cif, Marmite and Pot Noodle.
We have around 167,000 employees in over 100 countries, and generated annual
sales of EUR44.3 billion in 2010. For more information about Unilever and its
brands, please visitwww.unilever.com.
In November 2010, we launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan aiming to
halve our overall environmental footprint. Unilever is Food Industry Leader in
the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for the 13th year running. We are
included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of
5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index.
We are also ranked 7th in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the
World, a list compiled by Corporate Knights Magazine. We achieved Platinum Plus
standard in the UK´s Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility
Index 2009, and were named Company of the Year in 2010.
Barry Callebaut (www.barry-callebaut.com):
With annual sales of about CHF 4.6 billion (EUR 3.6 billion/USD 5.0 billion) for
fiscal year 2010/11, Zurich-based Barry Callebaut is the world´s leading
manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate - from the cocoa bean to the
finished chocolate product. Barry Callebaut is present in 27 countries, operates
around 40 production facilities and employs a diverse and dedicated workforce of
about 6,000 people. Barry Callebaut serves the entire food industry focusing on
industrial food manufacturers, artisans and professional users of chocolate
(such as chocolatiers, pastry chefs or bakers), the latter with its two global
brands Callebaut(®) and Cacao Barry(®). Barry Callebaut is the global leader in
cocoa and chocolate innovations and provides a comprehensive range of services
in the fields of product development, processing, training and marketing. Cost
leadership is another important reason why global as well as local food
manufacturers work together with Barry Callebaut. Through its broad range of
sustainability initiatives and research activities, the company works with
farmers, farmer organizations and other partners to help ensure future supplies
of cocoa and improve farmer livelihoods.
***
Contacts
Unilever
Media Contacts:
Trevor Gorin, Head of Unilever Media Relations:
+44 207 822 6010 / +44 7711 020438
Trevor.gorin@unilever.com
Unilever_press@twitter.com
Barry Callebaut AG
for investors and financial analysts: for the media:
Evelyn Nassar Raphael Wermuth
Head of Investor Relations External Communications Manager
Barry Callebaut AG Barry Callebaut AG
Phone: +41 43 204 04 23 Phone: +41 43 204 04 58
evelyn_nassar@barry-callebaut.com raphael_wermuth@barry-callebaut.com
The complete news release can be downloaded from the following link:
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Barry Callebaut AG
P.O. Box Zurich
WKN: 914661;ISIN: CH0009002962;
Press Release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/100441/R/1579119/492698.pdf
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