German chocolate manufacturer Stollwerck AG is working at about half its production capacity, a spokeswoman for its new parent, Switzerland's Barry Callebaut, said on Monday.
Callebaut on Friday announced the purchase of Stollwerck, one of the largest German chocolate manufacturers, for €175 million.Callebaut spokeswoman Gaby Tschofen said Stollwerck was operating below capacity because of the sale of its east European chocolate business to Kraft Foods, which was completed in January.
"The east European business was sold to Kraft and naturally part of the sales of its remaining factories were also gone," she said. "The remaining factories are currently only operating at about 50 per cent of capacity. This is an advantage for us as we can now seek to get an improved use of the factories' production without having to invest in new production capacity ourselves," she added.
Barry Callebaut largely produces chocolate for other industrial users. It plans to use Stollwerck, which possesses several leading German brands, to expand retail sales.