A key strategic move has been confirmed by Barry Callebaut, as it confirms plans to focus British operations at Colworth Science Park’s food tech incubator Gastronomica, reports Neill Barston.

The Swiss-headquartered firm, which has its core chocolate production site in Belgium, has continued to make a number of significant enhancements to its overall manufacturing capacity in recent years, including making major investment in capacity in North America.

As far as its latest UK move to Bedfordshire is concerned, as the business noted, Gastronomica is a home for emerging food-tech businesses advancing the future of food, enabling innovators and industry leaders to scale ideas, tackle global food shortages, and drive sustainable solutions.

Moreover, the company confirmed the relocation Barry Callebaut made sense given some of its new neighbours including the  Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC). As the business added, it reaffirmed a commitment to investing in local innovation and collaborative research. 

Notably, Callebaut has a long-established link to Magnum over the past decade, with the ice cream company now operating completely independently from its former owners, Unilever. It has continued to supply cracking chocolate coating, which is a major feature of the brand.

Valeria Gutierrez, R&D Director at Barry Callebaut said: “Gastronomica offers the ideal environment for strengthening our long-standing partnership with The Magnum Ice Cream Company, allowing us to work side by side with its teams and accelerate collaboration, innovation, and decision-making.

“Our teams are already collaborating on several exciting projects, leveraging Barry Callebaut’s expertise in chocolate and beyond-chocolate solutions to explore new textures, flavours and ingredient technologies. Combined with TMICC’s deep expertise in ice cream and consumer understanding, these complementary capabilities create exciting opportunities to accelerate innovation and deliver new experiences for consumers,” adding that the company’s presence there marks  an important step in strengthening its customer-centric approach and underlines our commitment to co-innovation, agility, and developing fresh solutions.

Nicky Purser, Tenant Relations Manager at Colworth Science Park, also welcomed the move: “Gastronomica brings together organisations with complementary expertise in food science, consumer research, sustainability and innovation. It gives tenant companies opportunities to exchange ideas, form partnerships and collaborate on projects that advance food innovation and create value for consumers.

“We are delighted to welcome Barry Callebaut to our growing Gastronomica community. The company has taken dedicated workspace for its on-site team, alongside collaborative meeting spaces for joint project work with The Magnum Ice Cream Company. Our flexible facilities will help the teams accelerate product development and co-create the ice cream innovations of tomorrow. We look forward to supporting this exciting new journey.”