MELBOURNE, Australia — The Barry Callebaut Group, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, announced that Denis Convert will be appointed Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, effective August 1, 2021.
In this new role, Denis Convert will be based in the GKC Foods office in Melbourne, Australia. He will provide leadership and direction to operations and sales teams in growing sales volume and expanding Barry Callebaut’s footprint in Australia and New Zealand.
This follows Barry Callebaut’s acquisition of GKC Foods last year, which establishes the company’s direct presence and manufacturing capability in Australia to cater for the Australian and New Zealand markets. This includes expanding its position in the industrial chocolate market and leveraging its value-adding Gourmet & Specialties business in both countries. This also means continuing to supply a wide range of “Made in Australia” products including organic and vegan chocolate.
Denis Convert joined Barry Callebaut in 2014 as Vice President of Gourmet for Asia Pacific. He was instrumental in driving the Gourmet business expansion, putting China and India in Barry Callebaut’s top 10 largest gourmet markets worldwide, setting a powerful city and segment expansion model and pioneering digital transformation with the company’s first integrated e-commerce operations in China. He led with his team the transformation of the portfolio creating a successful regional power-brand with Van Houten Professional.
Prior to Barry Callebaut, Denis Convert has extensive experience in Business Development, Sales, Marketing and General Management from major players of the food industry. He worked for the Savencia group (dairy products) in Eastern Europe and France and then 14 years for Mars in Europe where he successfully led several business units.
Denis Convert will relocate to Melbourne in August 2021.
About Barry Callebaut Group (www.barry-callebaut.com):
With annual sales of about CHF 6.9 billion (EUR 6.4 billion / USD 7.1 billion) in fiscal year 2019/20, the Zurich-based Barry Callebaut Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products – from sourcing and processing cocoa beans to producing the finest chocolates, including chocolate fillings, decorations and compounds. The Group runs more than 60 production facilities worldwide and employs a diverse and dedicated global workforce of more than 12,000 people.
The Barry Callebaut Group serves the entire food industry, from industrial food manufacturers to artisanal and professional users of chocolate, such as chocolatiers, pastry chefs, bakers, hotels, restaurants or caterers. The global brands catering to the specific needs of these Gourmet customers are Callebaut® and Cacao Barry®, Carma®and the decorations specialist Mona Lisa®.
The Barry Callebaut Group is committed to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025 to help ensure future supplies of cocoa and improve farmer livelihoods. It supports the Cocoa Horizons Foundation in its goal to shape a sustainable cocoa and chocolate future.
