ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — Barry Callebaut Group has opened its first cocoa application center in Asia Pacific. In addition to new equipment, the center features a demo kitchen, a small-scale production line and additional workspace areas. Barry Callebaut said the new center will assist industrial customers by providing prototype and concept development, product and process troubleshooting and sensory evaluation. In addition, the center offers technical assistance and training for cocoa products as well as cocoa product and ingredient research.
The center is located in Pasir Gudang (in the state of Johor, Malaysia,) and is adjacent to one of Barry Callebaut’s largest cocoa factories in Asia Pacific where cocoa ingredients (liquor, butter and powder) are easily available. The proximity to cocoa ingredients, as well as the sensory experts at the facility, will facilitate the frequent testing and tasting required in the creation of new products, applications and processes, the company said.
“With rising incomes in Asia Pacific, consumer taste is evolving. They are asking for more sophisticated flavors and colors,” said Peter Boone, chief innovation and quality officer at Barry Callebaut. “Cocoa, like no other ingredient, can give them this. In our new cocoa application center in Pasir Gudang, we will work closely with our industrial customers to co-create the consumer products of tomorrow: unique products that taste delicious, look appealing and are easy to process.”
Barry Callebaut operates 18 Chocolate Academy centers, 12 application centers and 19 pilot plants. It initially will focus on beverage, bakery, confectionery and ice cream applications as well as the potential offered by cocoa ingredients in these products, and build its capabilities in color, flavor matching and enhancement.
In Asia Pacific, Barry Callebaut has a total of four application centers as well as nine chocolate and cocoa factories. In addition to the new cocoa application center in Pasir Gudang, Barry Callebaut operates a cocoa research center in Selborne Estate (in the state of Pahang, Malaysia,) that focuses on research into inter-cropping, pest and disease management and soil management to promote increased productivity and biodiversity at the cocoa farm level.
