Barry Callebaut Warns On Flat Global Chocolate Demand

Business-to-business chocolate supplier Barry Callebaut has warned that it expects global chocolate demand to stagnate in 2010 following a decline of 2% in 2009. The pessimistic outlook came at the same time as it posted sales growth that fell short of expectations for its first fiscal quarter. In the three months to November 30 the company's sales growth edged up 1.5% to CHF1.45bn, while volumes increased by 7.2% to 663,973 tonnes. This was below the average forecast of analysts polled by Reuters. However, the firm insisted it was well-positioned to outperform the global chocolate market and to achieve its three

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