As of: February 27, 2024, 10:40 a.m
By: Lars-Eric Nievelstein
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European chocolate manufacturers are under pressure.
The world's largest producer of chocolate says it is now cutting jobs.
Thousands of jobs could be lost.
Lebekke – 2500 jobs are at risk.
The Belgian chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut plans to implement an austerity program announced in 2023 and is turning the red pencil.
This means he joins a queue of other companies that have also announced extensive job cuts.
These include the electrical appliance manufacturer Miele, the Bosch Group and the automotive supplier ZF.
Company name |
Barry Callebaut AG |
|---|---|
founding year |
1850 |
Sales volume in the first quarter of 2023/24 |
580,876 tons |
Price per ton of cocoa |
Around $5,500 on the New York Stock Exchange (as of mid-February) |
Barry Callebaut wants to save 250 million francs – and reduce the number of employees
Specifically, this is about a factory in Norderstedt that the originally Belgian company wants to close.
This would affect 48 full-time positions.
However, it doesn't stop there: Callebaut wants to cut around 2,500 jobs worldwide over the next 18 months.
A spokeswoman for the dpa news agency said it should be around 18 percent of the entire workforce.
Bossche Bollen, a chocolate specialty from the Netherlands, close-up.
The cocoa manufacturer Callebaut supplies a large number of companies and commercial customers (symbolic image).
© IMAGO/Iris van den Broek
Company boss Peter Feld had announced the job cuts well in advance.
“Due to changing customer demand for more sustainable and innovative products, it is now time to take the group to the next level through strategic investments in its future,” he said in an interview with
Handelsblatt
.
A radical restructuring of the company should save 250 million Swiss francs (around 260 million euros) annually.
Callebaut summarized the company realignment measures under the “BC Next Level” program, which began in September 2023.
Intended as a “strategic investment program”, BC Next Level is intended to ensure that the company moves “closer to customers and markets”.
Barry Callebaut is a cocoa processor and produces chocolate and cocoa products for the food industry.
The companies supplied include, for example, Nestlé and Unilever, but also commercial customers such as bakeries and pastry shops.
Cocoa is more expensive than ever – a concern in the confectionery industry
The confectionery industry is currently fearing an extreme shortage of cocoa.
Both the availability of the resource and its price are currently causing headaches for the Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI).
Cocoa is more expensive than ever;
The price has been climbing for weeks.
There is no end in sight.
This is primarily due to a lack of supply in the producing countries.
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During 2023, the price of a ton of cocoa doubled.
Most recently it was around $5,500.
As the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) reported, rain and flooding in the growing areas caused diseases such as black rot, which in turn significantly affected the harvest.
The interim harvest in West Africa, which normally takes place in April, is also at risk.
Some manufacturers are already assuming a harvest deficit of around 500,000 tons on the world market.
“That’s dramatic,” said Hermann Bühlbecker, owner of the pastry manufacturer Lambertz.
Business location is also a difficult place for the confectionery industry
The situation is also getting worse for German and European cocoa processors due to the high demand in Asia and European legislation.
“For deliveries to the EU, the requirements of the EU Deforestation Regulation or the EU Supply Chain Act (CSDDD) will in future require significantly more bureaucratic effort than, for example, deliveries to the USA or the booming countries of Asia,” explains Dr.
Carsten Bernoth, General Manager at BDSI.
Companies in Europe would therefore be at a significant disadvantage compared to competitors in other regions of the world.
“This is all the more annoying because the European confectionery industry is already well on its way to greater sustainability in the cocoa sector.” Just like in other sectors, the confectionery industry is also disadvantaged by the German tax system.
High taxes, highest wages and a dilapidated infrastructure ensure that the business location becomes less attractive.
Industry experts are already warning of deindustrialization in Germany.
“We as a medium-sized sector therefore demand that the federal government take on the major and existential challenges instead of burdening companies with more bureaucracy,” said Bastian Fassin, Chairman of the BDSI.
The alternative would be a significant relocation of production steps to other EU countries, as is currently being discussed with Meyer Burger in the solar industry.
Or, as in the case of Callebaut, the closure of plants.
With material from DPA