Barry Callebaut

Barry Callebaut dominates the $8B+ industrial chocolate market by operating at a scale most consumers never see: the company processes 2+ million tons of cocoa annually, supplying Hershey, Mondelez, Unilever, and thousands of bakeries and confectioners. This B2B focus avoids brand competition while capturing value through vertical integration - cocoa sourcing, processing, product development - that small manufacturers can't replicate. The company's 25,000-ton chocolate factories achieve economies of scale impossible for artisan producers or even consumer brands doing in-house production. Barry Callebaut's 15%+ EBITDA margins prove that in food ingredients, being the largest, most efficient supplier to other brands beats competing for consumer attention.