Chicago, IL, USA — Natasha Chen has been appointed President North America of the Barry Callebaut Group, effective September 16, 2024. She succeeds Ben De Schryver who has decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities.
In her new role, Ms. Chen will oversee Barry Callebaut’s North America business across the US, Mexico and Canada. Ms. Chen will be reporting directly to CEO Peter Feld and will also join the company’s Extended Leadership Team.
An American national, Ms. Chen has a strong history of driving growth and providing excellent service to her customers. She brings extensive US and international leadership experience in both B2B and B2C environments.
Most recently, she led the Global Healthcare division at Ecolab, the global B2B sustainability leader specializing in water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions. Prior to that, she spent over two decades at consumer goods company Colgate-Palmolive, where she occupied various business management and marketing roles across three regions and different geographies. Ms. Chen holds an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.
Group CEO Peter Feld commented on the appointment: “We are delighted to welcome Natasha to Barry Callebaut. She is a skilled international leader with a deep understanding of the North American market, digitalization and sustainability, which will be instrumental for us to create a more impactful service for our North American customers. With her extensive experience in taking customer focus to the next level and transforming businesses, Natasha will be invaluable as we strive to create the best chocolate solutions and services for our customers. We would also like to thank Ben for his extraordinary dedication and commitment over the past 25 years, including his three years of service as our Group CFO. His contributions have significantly shaped our company’s history. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
About Barry Callebaut Group (www.barry-callebaut.com):
With annual sales of about CHF 8.5 billion in fiscal year 2022/23, the Zurich-based Barry Callebaut Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products – from sourcing and processing cocoa beans to producing the finest chocolates, including chocolate fillings, decorations and compounds. The Group runs 66 production facilities worldwide and employs a diverse and dedicated global workforce of more than 13,000 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 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.
