Callebaut was a Belgian company and a major producer of chocolate for consumers and for professional chocolatiers. As of 1996 it is a part of the Swiss company Barry Callebaut. Callebaut is now one of the major brands of the combined company.
The company was founded by Eugenius Callebaut as a brewery in Wieze, Belgium, in 1850, and began producing chocolate bars in 1911 and chocolate couverture in 1925.[1]
In 1996, Callebaut merged with rival chocolatier Cacao Barry to form a new company, formally known as Barry Callebaut, with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, although Callebaut retained its offices in Belgium. In 2005 Barry Callebaut was noted as "the world's biggest chocolatier."[2]