Barry Callebaut opened the Milan chocolatier centre on 19 June 2017, set to be run by Italian chocolate champion, Davide Comaschi.

The Milan launch follows recent successful openings of three Barry Callebaut academies in Moscow (Russia), Dubai (UAE) and Istanbul (Turkey).

EMEA president Massimo Garavaglia described the centre as "something really beautiful for Italy". As the global centre of excellence for chocolate gelato, it hosts the first ChocoGelato Lab and will develop recipes for artisanal gelato with real Belgian chocolate.

Comaschi will be directing two fellow chefs within the Milan chocolatier teaching and training centre, to provide a learning experience for interested chocolate professionals and Barry Callebaut customers.