Barry Callebaut’s Reset: Schumacher’s First 100 Days at the Helm - Exclusive Analysis

When Hein Schumacher describes his first 100 days at Barry Callebaut, he returns repeatedly to one word: focus. It is less a slogan than a diagnosis. After years of expansion, transformation programmes and industry turbulence, the world’s largest chocolate supplier has become, in his telling, both overstretched and internally distracted – precisely as cocoa markets swing violently from shortage to surplus.

“Service levels are below industry benchmarks – we have to get this right,” he told analysts and investors during yesterday’s call.

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As reported by cocoaradar.com, Barry Callebaut has cut its profit forecast and warned of the effect of falling cocoa prices. The FT reports that  industry overcapacity and supply disruptions saw its shares down more than 15%.

“The Zurich-based group said it now expected earnings before interest and tax to fall by a ‘mid-teens’ percentage in its current financial year, reversing earlier guidance for growth.”

Make no doubt of the the scale of the challenge facing Schumacher. The question is, can he pull it off?

Schumacher’s first 100 days show: