
ZURICH, Switzerland — The Barry Callebaut Group's board of directors has appointed Peter Boone as the company's new chief executive officer, effective September 1, 2021. Peter Boone succeeds Antoine de Saint-Affrique, who, after successfully serving as CEO since October 1, 2015, will be stepping down at the end of the group’s fiscal year. Antoine de Saint-Affrique will be proposed for election to the board of directors at the next annual general meeting (AGM).
Peter Boone
Before joining Barry Callebaut, Peter Boone worked with Unilever in a variety of global and regional roles, his final role being Chief Marketing Officer Australia and New Zealand. Peter Boone studied Business Administration at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Antoine de St Affrique
De Maeseneire continued: “Antoine is passing the baton to Peter after six years of passionate leadership, which is once more illustrated by the careful succession planning. Together with the Executive Team, Antoine’s ‘smart growth’ execution of the Group’s long term strategy successfully expanded Barry Callebaut’s global footprint across five continents. Under his leadership the Group strengthened its balance sheet and profitability through the rebalancing of the portfolio towards faster growing geographies and a broader range of high quality cocoa and chocolate ingredients. Furthermore, Antoine made Barry Callebaut the industry leader for sustainable cocoa and chocolate through the launch of Forever Chocolate, the Group’s acclaimed plan to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025. Overall, Antoine sharpened the Group’s business model, which allowed Barry Callebaut to successfully weather the unprecedented market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, placing the Group in pole position for continued growth.”
Steve Woolley
Effective July 1, 2021, the Board of Directors has appointed Jo Thys as President Asia Pacific, and as member of the Executive Committee. Jo Thys, currently serving as the Group’s Vice President Africa, Middle East and Turkey, is replacing Ben De Schryver, who became Barry Callebaut’s CFO, January 1, 2021.
With annual sales of about $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2019/20, the Zurich- based Barry Callebaut Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products – from sourcing and processing cocoa beans to producing the finest chocolates, including chocolate fillings, decorations and compounds. The Group runs more than 60 production facilities worldwide and employs a diverse and dedicated global workforce of more than 12,000 people.