Barry Callebaut moulds a more efficient business with a regional card solution

Barry Callebaut is a leading global manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, which has grown in Asia Pacific through a series of significant acquisitions. They provide a comprehensive range of products and services to global and local food manufacturers, artisans, and professional users of chocolate.

As the size of their group grew, Barry Callebaut noted inconsistencies with their procurement and expense management processes. Employee reimbursement processes involved submissions of paper-based claims (e.g. receipts), which created inefficiencies in reconciliation and reporting. This subsequently impacted the speed at which employees could be reimbursed for business expenses. Similarly, procurement orders had to be raised using paper-based means to allow goods and services to be acquired by the company.

Barry Callebaut looked to drive greater overall efficiency by moving away from these paper-intensive processes through automation. They were also looking to improve overall visibility on merchant spend to negotiate terms more effectively.

Barry Callebaut gained enterprise-wide efficiency on procurement and expense management by working with HSBC to create a user-friendly regional card programme which streamlined employee reimbursements, and provided better control and insight on spending. Cards can function as both a travel & expense and purchasing card, with all charges billed centrally to the company for settlement. In effect, this allows Barry Callebaut to issue standardised cards with customisable credit limits to employees across the region.

Purchases made on each HSBC commercial card are fed directly into Barry Callebaut’s expense management system, which increases the accuracy and speed of expense reporting. Customised controls and approval workflows can also be set for various purchases, reducing the risk of unauthorised spending. Robust data analytics tools also allow the finance team to monitor spending patterns and identify cost-saving opportunities. Billing cycles and payment dates are also aligned across all markets to drive further efficiencies on paying outstanding balances.

The regional solution was enhanced further through various custom processes that provided Barry Callebaut with more control and deeper insights on their card programme. For example, following a thorough global analysis of privacy policies and card application requirements, a bespoke process that allows employees to apply for new corporate cards directly on Barry Callebaut’s card management platform was created. They also created a process that allowed pre-authorised purchases to be made by purchasing card without going through the procurement process. This has reduced administrative workload, and sped up purchasing cycles.

• Centralised regional cards programme has allowed Barry Callebaut to be more productive by automating expense reporting
• Over 400 cards in use globally, with 80% penetration among employees
• 20% faster expense reporting
• Greater visibility into global transactions and total spending
• Improved merchant negotiations
• Improved accuracy and timeliness of expense reporting