Barry Callebaut breaks ground for chocolate factory in Serbia

The construction of the factory means a lot for the Serbian processing and food industry, as most raw materials will be delivered by local suppliers, the president's office said in a statement.

Barry Callebaut also intends to launch the construction of a research and development centre in Novi Sad in June or July, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said during the groundbreaking ceremony, as quoted in the statement.

"This means that we will have a large import substitution and drastically increased exports, which will contribute to further stabilisation of Serbia's public finances and economy," Vucic said.

In September, the director of Serbia's property directorate, Milos Vorkapic, said Barry Callebaut plans to invest 45 million euro ($50 million) in the construction of the factory.

Barry Callebaut supplies its products to some of the leading global confectioners such as Nestle and Mondelez. The company runs about 60 production facilities worldwide and employs a global workforce of more than 11,500 people.

($ = 0.893539 euro)