The Barry Callebaut Group, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, announced today the signing of a new, long-term outsourcing agreement with World's Finest® Chocolate, a family-owned business based in Chicago, IL (U.S.).

Under the terms of the agreement, Barry Callebaut will acquire the industrial chocolate manufacturing assets from World's Finest® Chocolate and lease space at their existing production site in Chicago, thus establishing a new manufacturing base for the Group in the attractive Midwest region1. At the same time, Barry Callebaut will supply all of World's Finest® Chocolate’s chocolate demand from World’s Finest’s® existing Chicago facility. World's Finest® Chocolate will use the supplied liquid chocolate to continue their long-standing manufacturing tradition of delivering high-quality finished products.

Barry Callebaut will invest CHF 5.1 million (USD 5.7 million / EUR 5.1 million) in fiscal year 2014/15. Deliveries from the new chocolate manufacturing base in Chicago will commence on March 1, 2015. The new site will allow Barry Callebaut to also capitalize on growth opportunities with other customers in the region and further strengthen its manufacturing footprint in North America where it currently operates 11 factories. The company expects the production volume from the new factory to achieve 25,000 tonnes per annum in the near term.

Dave Johnson, CEO and President Americas of the Barry Callebaut Group, said: “We feel much honored to have been selected by World's Finest® Chocolate as their partner of choice. This long-term agreement is another important step to strengthen our services for customers in the fast-growing Midwest region of the United States. It also underscores our position as the preferred partner for outsourcing, one of our key growth drivers."

Edmond Opler, CEO of World’s Finest® Chocolate Inc., said: “Our long-term agreement with the Barry Callebaut Group guarantees the supply of our 75-year-old family recipe continuing to be made in our facility from ‘bean-to-bar’. This partnership allows us to focus our energies on continued growth, manufacturing our finished goods and servicing our many customers.”