The Barry Callebaut Group, a manufacturer of high quality chocolate and cocoa products, on Thursday opened the door to its new, relocated Callebaut Chocolate Academy center which serves as a venue for the exchange of technical skills, training, dialogue and the sharing of love for everything related to chocolate.The center and sales office is a relocation from its previous home which opened in 2008.It is one of 19 training centers managed by the company's gourmet division, around the world, and one of four in the Asia-Pacific, with other centers being located in Singapore, Shanghai (China) and Tokyo (Japan)."Callebaut is proud to have been a part of the chef's community for over 10 years and we owe our customers in India for helping us build our business," Dhruv Bhatia, Barry Callebaut's Managing Director, India, said in a statement."We want to provide locals and visitors with the best chocolate making experience we can and we look forward to serving them even better in this state-of-the-art Chocolate Academy center," he added.
Bhatia said the opening of their chocolate factory in Pune last year and now with the upgrading of the center in Mumbai, will enable them "to be in a better position to capitalise on growth opportunities in India".The center's offerings include a wide range of workshops, courses and demonstrations for professional customers in all sectors: chocolatiers, pastry chefs, bakers and other chocolate experts as well as culinary professionals working in hotels, restaurants and the catering business.They will be able to benefit from the modern kitchen and the equipment that the Academy is equipped with, to perfect their expertise in chocolate under the guidance of the brand's specially-trained and renowned chefs."The investment we've made into this new center reaffirms our commitment to the professional chocolatiers in this region," said Mikael Neglen, President, Chocolate Asia Pacific, Barry Callebaut.