Barry Callebaut officially opened its new regional headquarters in Singapore at the OUE Downtown 2 building last Friday, March 4, 2022, in a ceremony that featured its Group CEO Peter Boone. The new facility further affirms the company’s 25 years of presence in the country since 1997 and its continued investment in the local and regional chocolate and cocoa market.

The Asia Pacific office of Barry Callebaut has been headquartered in Singapore since 2014, previously located at Millenia Tower. Singapore has, and will continue to serve as a key geographic hub to anchor the company’s growth, innovation, and digitalization goals. Especially over the last three years, the company has seen new offices and factories in Australia, China, India, and Indonesia.

Barry Callebaut’s President for Asia Pacific, Jo Thys, said, “The inauguration of our new regional headquarters represents our next chapter of sustainable growth, and reaffirms Barry Callebaut’s commitment to invest and develop in Singapore for the long-term. We look forward to continuing working with the government, trade organizations and our customers and partners to realize our ambition of becoming the responsible chocolate and cocoa leader in this region.”

Barry Callebaut also operates a chocolate factory in Senoko South Road in Singapore. The facility is the first and the largest industrial chocolate factory in the country. Today the company has more than 250 employees in Singapore and its regional headquarters also houses its regional sales, supply chain management, and corporate functions teams.

Design for collaboration in the new hybrid environment

Located in the downtown area, the new office strengthens collaboration among its business lines, and accommodates the business growth strategy with new technological features and welfare facilities to prioritize the well-being of its people. Like many companies, Barry Callebaut has adopted a hybrid model, where many of its employees are able to work from home as well as work from the office for more collaboration and activity-based meetings.

Meghna Shukla, Barry Callebaut’s Asia Pacific Vice President for Human Resources, said, “Our new office was designed to create a flexible work environment that inspires creativity and facilitates collaboration. We believe that our people perform best when they work within a modern, open, and inclusive office environment with welfare facilities that encourages them to keep healthy.”

The new office is configured to promote a healthy work environment with ergonomically-designed workstations and collaborative meeting spaces. For example, the company has adapted all the meeting rooms to cater to virtual meetings with eye-level cameras and screens on the walls. Employees can also access the office with a mobile phone app, check in via that mobile device, and be directed by the app to their hot seats.