Tuesday November 28, 3:12 PM
Barry Callebaut builds China plant before Olympics
ZURICH, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Barry Callebaut , the
world's leading chocolate maker, on Tuesday said it had begun
construction of a new factory in Suzhou, China, to meet growing
demand ahead of the 2008 Olympic games.
The new factory, valued at 20 million Swiss francs ($16.6
million), will have a capacity of 25,000 tonnes and offer about
100 jobs once it is running at full capacity, the company said.
With annual sales of over 4 billion francs, the Swiss
company is the world's biggest supplier of cocoa and chocolate
to the food industry, confectioners, chefs and artisans.
"Demand for chocolate in China is growing rapidly and will
be further spurred by the Olympics in 2008 and the World Expo in
Shanghai in 2010," said Chief Executive Patrick De Maeseneire in
a statement."People are curious and want to explore new things,
and their incomes are rising."
Construction and start-up time for the new factory will take
between 12 and 18 months, Barry Callebaut said.
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