Barry Callebaut agrees breakthrough digital strategy partnership with Microsoft
Contract signing moment - Amr Arafa, Barry Callebaut’s Chief Digital Officer (right) & Marijke Schroos, General Manager of Microsoft Benelux (left).
A major industry partnership has been unveiled by Swiss-headquartered Barry Callebaut group, as it links up with Microsoft to drive its wide-ranging digital transformation plans, reports Neill Barston.
According to the company, the move, which forms a key pilar of its BC next level strategy, aims to deliver significant operational improvements for the business, driving integration across the entire value chain of its international business.
It comes as the company releases its latest nine-month results, which showed a slight increase in sales volumes for the company, which were up 0.4%, and sales revenues up 16% in local currency to CHF 7.3 billion, which was attributed to a significant rise in cocoa bean pries. This comes in the wake of the firm securing a total of €700 million in bond funding to finance its ongoing global activities.
Moreover, the business explained, that as part of its BC programme launched last September, it has committed to developing an agile, tech-enabled organisation; to enhance operational efficiency, drive innovation, and support sustainable growth.
Consequently, it confirmed that Microsoft has been identified as the ideal partner in its ventures through the use of cloud technology, data and analytics tools, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) offerings. These will be utilise to achieve greater speed to market for its products, as well as enable greater collaboration with its industry partners.
Amr Arafa, Barry Callebaut’s Chief Digital Officer, welcomed the partnership with the tech-giant. He said: “As part of our commitment to getting closer to our customers and markets, our BC Next Level investment program aims to foster simplicity and digitalization. Today, we are thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Microsoft, which marks a significant milestone on our digital transformation journey, unlocking exciting possibilities for our organization.
Marijke Schroos, General Manager of Microsoft Benelux, added: Barry Callebaut’s commitment to innovation and sustainability is inspiring. We are very excited to provide the digital tools and platforms that will support their goals and drive transformative outcomes. With AI at the forefront, we can optimize processes, ensuring more efficient and effective achievement of sustainability targets and innovative breakthroughs.
