Chocolate maker Barry Callebaut boosts investment in Canadian factory

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut is investing $70 million at one of its factories in Canada, the company said on Wednesday, its latest move to expand production in North America.

The world's biggest maker of chocolate will add more liquid chocolate and molding production lines at its site in Chatham, Ontario and also improve production of dairy-free chocolate compounds which are used by food makers in desserts, ice cream and confectionery.

"This new capacity will satisfy growing demand from both food manufacturers and gourmet customers for our compound solutions in this dynamic consumer market," said Balaji Padmanabhan, vice president of Operations and Supply Chain, Americas.

Barry Callebaut's sales in the Americas increased by 6.4% during its last financial year, outpacing the overall market, which increased by 0.7%.

Earlier this year Zurich-based Barry Callebaut said it was spending $104 million to build a new factory in Brantford, Ontario, to produce sugar-free chocolate and other speciality products.

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Michael Shields)