Barry Callebaut Cautious On Chocolate Market Outlook
November 15, 2011 | 1 min to read
ZURICH – Barry Callebaut (BARN.S), the world's largest maker of chocolate and cocoa products, sounded a cautious note on market growth for next year and said it expected raw material prices to remain high and volatile.
The group is sticking to its goal of 6-8 percent sales volume growth over the mid term after full-year net profit beat expectations but it did not extend the timeframe this goal is valid for as some analysts had expected.
Barry Callebaut is expecting growth in the chocolate confectionery and gourmet markets to slow to 1-2 percent next year and Chief Financial Office Victor Balli said the economic situation in Europe was worrying.
"But chocolate is relatively robust so it's not going to drop heavily. Will the market return to growth? It's a bit too early to say that for Western Europe," Balli told Reuters.
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