New CEO Hein Schumacher's 'Focus for Growth' Resets Strategy at Barry Callebaut
Amid collapsing cocoa prices and service issues, the chocolate giant pivots from overambitious Next Level to disciplined customer-centric execution.
BARN.SW · Earnings Call · 2026-04-16
A New Decisive Hand
In his first results presentation as CEO, Hein Schumacher wasted no time in signaling a strategic break. Barry Callebaut's half-year results (FY2025/26, period ending February 2026) arrived with a clear message: the previous number of initiatives under the Next Level program had overwhelmed the organization. As he put it, “The Barry Callebaut Next Level program was launched with all the right intentions. However, the sheer number of initiatives proved too ambitious for the organization to absorb at once” — Hein M. Schumacher, CEO · 2026-04-16. The company had delivered around CHF 150 million in savings, but these were more than offset by volume declines, higher operating costs, and supply disruptions. Schumacher's diagnosis is blunt: the business became overstretched, internally focused, and lost market share. The response is the Focus for Growth plan, which he previewed for the first time. It reduces the executive leadership team from 20 to 12, eliminates the global transformation office, and dramatically concentrates resources on a handful of priorities—top markets, customer service, and a smaller set of growth categories. The emphasis is on restoring fundamentals, with a new mantra of Customer centricity. "Our #1 priority is to restore service levels and on-time in full performance," he stated during the prepared remarks, a phrase that would be repeated throughout the Q&A.The Guidance Reset
Financially, the half-year revealed a mixed picture. Group volumes declined 6.9% in H1, but sequentially improved to -3.6% in Q2, led by double-digit growth in Asia and momentum in Latin America. Recurring EBIT fell 4.2% in local currencies, but profit before tax rose 1.3% and net profit jumped 66% thanks to lower finance costs and a sharply reduced tax rate. The bean price collapse—down 53% in eight weeks—created both tailwinds and headwinds. The CFO, Peter Vanneste, explained the components: “We now expect a decrease for the group between minus 1% to minus 3%. And this implies a return to positive growth overall in the second half.” — Peter Vanneste, CFO · 2026-04-16 That improved volume guidance contrasts with a reduced EBIT outlook—now mid-teens decrease—due to temporary commercial investments, normalization of cocoa profitability, and a reversal of finance cost pass-through. Crucially, the company also guided leverage below 3x net debt/EBITDA by year-end—a dramatic improvement from 6.5x a year earlier. The CHF 802 million free cash flow in H1 benefited from lower inventory values and refinancing actions, including a new CHF 2 billion sustainability-linked borrowing base facility.From Overreach to Discipline
The strategic shift is not just cosmetic. Schumacher admitted the Next Level program attempted too much too quickly, resulting in supply disruption and a deterioration in customer service. At the St. Hyacinthe factory in North America, operational incidents led to volume losses and higher costs, prompting targeted investments to rebuild reliability. "We have had incidents over the last couple of years. We simply cannot repeat that. The reputation of the company is essentially what safeguards the value of the company," he told analysts. The new plan focuses on a smaller set of growth areas—the U.S., Brazil, Indonesia, India, and China—and reintroduces a clear brand hierarchy in Gourmet. The CFO noted that Gourmet, though only 20% of volumes, is over-proportional in profits, yet faced temporary margin pressure due to a high price list in a sharply falling bean market. The company is deliberately protecting market share, even if it means short-term profit sacrifice. As Schumacher articulated in his block-quote-worthy conclusion:The prior earnings calls under the old CEO had focused on the Next Level delivery and the Saint-Hyacinthe incident, but Schumacher's tone is markedly different. He is building on existing strengths—the integrated cocoa-chocolate model, leading customer relationships, and deep expertise—yet insisting on executional focus. As he put it in the prepared remarks, "we're not reinventing our strategy... What is different is the level of focus, the level of energy and depth." Whether this translates into sustained Volume growth remains to be seen. But the market is watching closely. For now, Barry Callebaut is signaling that it has heard the message from customers and investors alike: less is more, and the customer comes first.By intentionally reducing the number of priorities on the table, we will free up time, energy and resources.