Chocolate and cocoa product manufacturer Barry Callebaut Group has appointed PT Sinarniaga Sejahtera (SNS) as its distributor for Van Houten Professional sustainable compound chocolate products in Indonesia.

SNS is a subsidiary of PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk (Garudafood), a food and beverage company in Indonesia.

Through this partnership, Barry Callebaut is making its compound chocolate range of the Van Houten Professional brand available to bakeries, restaurants, chocolatiers and home bakers in Indonesia.

The complete range of Van Houten Professional products are claimed to feature 100% sustainably sourced cocoa through the Cocoa Horizons Foundation.

Cocoa Horizons Foundation is a non-profit organisation set up by Barry Callebaut to boost the impact in cocoa-growing communities such as in Sulawesi.

The agreement is effective immediately and the products will be commercially available in Indonesia from next month.

Further terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.

Barry Callebaut Indonesia managing director for chocolate and food manufacturing vice-president in South-East Asia Shuo-yen Choo said: “Van Houten Professional is Barry Callebaut’s European heritage brand that has already established a leadership presence in Asia. Partnering with Garudafood will once again allow us to team up with a leader in one of the most vibrant economies in the Asia Pacific and gain a strategic foothold in Indonesia, which continues to offer growth even in these unprecedented times.”

Garudafood director Paulus Tedjosutikno said: “We are excited to have the opportunity to work with Barry Callebaut on the distribution of the Van Houten Professional compound chocolate products. By leveraging our foodservice channel, we are confident to be a notable player in the growing consumption of chocolate products in Indonesia.”

This deal extends the strategic relationship established in 2015 between Barry Callebaut and Garudafood, and presently focuses on an industrial supply of compound chocolate through factories in Gresik, East Java; and Rancaekek, West Java.