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In 2024, Bühler increased its profitability and achieved an EBIT of CHF 227 million and an EBIT margin of 7.6%. The equity ratio improved to 52.8%. The company was able to further strengthen its financial stability through improved cash flow and increased liquidity. Although orders declined in a challenging market environment, sales remained stable and Bühler was able to maintain or even increase its market share. Milling Solutions, Bühler's largest business unit, Leybold Optics and the Customer Service division contributed the most to the success in 2024. ‘In an increasingly uncertain global economic environment, we pursued our approach of ‘making things happen’ and continued to invest in innovation as well as training and development. A big thank you goes to our skilled and dedicated employees, who were once again the key to our success in this very challenging year,’ says Stefan Scheiber, CEO of Bühler.

In 2024, Bühler Group sales remained stable at CHF 3.0 billion (-0.8%), while order intake reached CHF 2.8 billion (-9.9%). Exchange rates had a significant impact on this result: in local currencies, sales rose by 2.5% to CHF 3.1 billion, while order intake totalled CHF 2.9 billion (-7.0%). Thanks to the focus on improving productivity, the Group's profitability increased for the fourth time in a row to an EBIT of CHF 227 million (7.6% of sales; previous year: 7.2%). Net profit rose to CHF 189 million, which corresponds to a margin of 6.3% (previous year: 5.9%). As a result, the equity ratio also increased for the sixth time in a row to 52.8% from 51.1% in 2023. With a particular focus on global inventory management, current assets were reduced by 15.8% to CHF 554 million. Together with improved profitability, this led to an improvement in operating cash flow to CHF 379 million (previous year: CHF 69 million) and a doubling of net liquidity to CHF 503 million. ‘Our strong financial position makes us a reliable long-term partner for our customers, industry partners and bondholders,’ says CFO Mark Macus

Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen GmbH (WDS) is one of the world's leading manufacturers of confectionery machines and covers the entire spectrum of moulded confectionery products. At ProSweets 2025 in Cologne, WDS showcased a innovation in mogul technology – the MogulPRO featuring a chainless pusher system. In addition to WDS's versatile range of systems for confectionery production in various output capacities, the event also featured service and digitalisation solutions, along with the expanding SweetConnect partner network.

WDS was pleased to welcome an international audience and keen interest from customers and visitors. Carsten Butz, Technical Director at WDS, emphasised: "Personal interaction and meeting at international trade fairs provide a unique opportunity to understand our customers' needs and develop tailored solutions together."

State-of-the-art technology and containment system enable tests with a wide range of materials. Coperion K-Tron located in Switzerland, a global leader in feeding and pneumatic conveying technology solutions, is excited to announce the expansion of its state-of-the-art test center at its facility in Niederlenz. This strategic move is designed to enhance the company's capabilities, particularly for tests involving materials that require containment. The expansion will allow Coperion to conduct more comprehensive and diverse testing, providing customers with a broader range of solutions for their specific material handling needs. The new facility will be equipped with the latest technology and equipment, ensuring the highest standards of safety and efficiency. The addition to the Test Center will feature advanced containment systems for handling all types of materials, including an airlock system with filtration, ensuring the safety of both the testing process and the staff as well as the environment. This will allow the company to better serve industries such as battery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food processing, where containment and hygienic requirements can be a critical concern. "Coperion is committed to delivering the best possible solutions to our customers," said Marco Hadrys, Test Center Manager in Niederlenz. "The expansion of our Test Center is a significant step towards achieving this goal. It will enable us to conduct more extensive tests, particularly with materials that require containment, and provide our customers with even more reliable and efficient solutions."

The new ‘Packaging Competence Center’ supports the development of future-proof packaging solutions. Gerhard Schubert GmbH and the Berlin-based Berndt+Partner Group packaging consultancy are combining their expertise with the Packaging Competence Center (PCC). The new organisation brings together experts in regulation, packaging design, materials and automation technology. The aim of the PCC is to advise manufacturers on the development of sustainable packaging and to find viable solutions for implementation. The focus is on meeting the challenges of PPWR as well as other sustainability issues. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) aims to make the packaging industry more sustainable and to reduce the negative environmental impact of packaging waste. However, it presents manufacturers with major challenges due to extremely tight deadlines, different implementation timelines and the current lack of detailed regulations. Companies need to evaluate as quickly as possible how they will respond to the often complex requirements. This can have far-reaching consequences for their packaging and production processes – and requires efficient, compliant implementation, for which PCC provides a wide range of support. As Michael Graf, Head of the PCC and a sustainability expert at Schubert, explains: “Manufacturers are dealing with very practical considerations. What are the implications of packaging a chocolate bar in paper instead of a flowpack in the future? Or how does an existing cartoning machine run when blanks are resized, when they behave differently in the machine or when they can no longer be glued? These issues are significant and require answers along the entire value chain.”

Ulrich Zuenelli, Managing Partner of Loacker S.p.A. and a third-generation member of the Loacker-Zuenelli family, is 2025 ISM Award recipient.  

The award ceremony yesterday was part of the ISM Dinner. The award recognizes his commitment to the international sweets and snacks industry as well as his long-term contribution to the further development of ISM. Zuenelli has held various executive positions at Loacker since 1996. Zuenelli began as Commercial Director of the production plant in Heinfels, East Tyrol. He went on to take on responsibility in key areas, including President of the supervisory board of Sweets Global Network and Vice Chairman of the ISM Task Force (AISM).

“Ulrich Zuenelli is not only an excellent manager, he is also a valuable driving force for the entire sweets and snacks industry. His tireless efforts for progress and his presence within the industry make him a true role model,” said Bastian Fassin, Chairman of the BDSI.

“ISM plays and has played a decisive role in the development and further development of our international business as a medium-sized company. Hence, for me personally the ISM Award is a highly appreciated recognition of my efforts to promote the successful development of the trade fair, both as a long-standing active exhibitor and visitor as well as in my capacity as vice chairman of the ISM Task Force,” says Zuenelli. “This award ceremony was a perfect enhancement to our anniversary celebrations and rounds off our 100th anniversary in a special way,” he adds.

Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen GmbH (WDS) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of confectionery machines and covers the entire spectrum of moulded confectionery products with a wide variety of applications and capabilities. The company is pleased to be returning to ProSweets in 2025 in Cologne. The highlight of this year's trade fair in Hall 10.1, booth 050 will be a new development in mogul technology for gum and jelly products from WDS. Look forward to discovering more and visit the WDS stand for details!

The Barry Callebaut Group reported sales volume of 565,238 tonnes during the first three months of fiscal year 2024/25 (ended November 30, 2024). The highly challenging and volatile market environment has impacted short-term customer and consumer demand, resulting in a sales volume decrease of 2.7%.  

According to the company, sales revenue amounted to CHF 3.450 bn, an increase of 63.1% in local currencies (+ 53.9% in CHF). The increase was driven by Barry Callebaut's cost-plus pricing model as the business passed through the significantly higher cocoa bean price to customers.

Global Chocolate saw a 3.4% volume decrease, in an overall declining chocolate confectionery market (- 2.6%; source: NielsenIQ volume growth excluding e-commerce – 26 countries, September 2024 - October/November 2024; data subject to adjustment to match Barry Callebaut's reporting period; NielsenIQ data only partially reflects the out-of-home and impulse consumption). Food Manufacturers (- 3.8%) saw slower demand. Given the recent cocoa bean price acceleration, customers have been delaying orders. Volumes also decreased in Gourmet (- 1.5%).

Looking at regional performance within Global Chocolate, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA, + 6.4%) was the strongest contributor. Latin America saw double-digit volume growth (+ 13.2%). North America reported a volume decrease of 1.9%. Central and Eastern Europe (- 4.5%) was impacted by lower volumes for several large global and regional Food Manufacturer customers. Volume development in Western Europe (- 7.5%) was partly impacted by the high base of comparison, with a large one-off contract in the prior year.

Sales volume for Global Cocoa was around flat (+ 0.3%). Demand for cocoa powder remained robust and the business was able to capture some customer opportunities. Cocoa liquor continued to be impacted by the supply constrained environment. 

GNT is set to showcase the vibrant and sustainable Exberry® colors at ProSweets Cologne from February 2-5, 2025. The innovative Exberry® range, derived from non-GMO fruits, vegetables, and plants, is designed to support natural clean-label ingredient declarations, while contributing to the reduction of end products’ carbon footprints. To learn more meet the experts at the Exberry® Stand (Hall 10.1 | H010 J011)