Breaking News on Confectionery & Biscuit Processing

Nestlé completes first part of £15m wafer investment programme

16-Dec-2010 - The opening of Nestlé’s new UK wafer-manufacturing line completes the first part of a £15m three year investment programme that aims to enhance product quality and reduce energy use.

Nestlé opens $136m Dubai factory

13-Dec-2010 - Confectionery giant Nestlé has officially opened a (USD) $136m manufacturing facility in Dubai which is set to become the third largest Kit Kat plant worldwide.

Mexican acquisition will strengthen Grupo Bimbo’s position in US confectionery market, analyst

13-Dec-2010 - Grupo Bimbo has completed its acquisition of Mexican confectionery firm Dulces Vero, a deal that should strengthen its position in the US hispanic confectionery market, according to market analyst Jonathan Thomas.

Leatherhead’s top food and drink trends for 2011

10-Dec-2010 - Ten trends will dominate the UK food and beverage industries next year, predicts Leatherhead Food Research.

Nestlé to close Castleford factory by end of 2012

10-Dec-2010 - Nestlé Confectionery UK is proposing to close its Castleford factory and merge all of its UK 'seasonal' manufacturing into its Halifax site by the end of 2012.

Hershey to launch confectionery brands in UK and Europe

09-Dec-2010 - Hershey’s plan to start selling its confectionery in the UK and Europe forms part of the company’s wider agenda to target the region, says Euromonitor.

New minimum price for Fairtrade organic cocoa will offset volatility, claims FLO

07-Dec-2010 - A new minimum price for Fairtrade organic cocoa, which comes into force early next year, will act as an income safety net for growers amid ongoing price volatility in the sector, according to the organization behind the standard.

Cocoa prices hinge on Ivory Coast election says Rabobank

02-Dec-2010 - Rabobank has warned that cocoa prices will respond if there is a return to civil war in the Ivory Coast as this could impede cocoa exports onto the world market.

News in brief

Cargill awarded for its work with cocoa farmers

02-Dec-2010 - Cargill has been awarded for its work to improve livelihoods for cocoa farmers and their families in Africa, Asia and South America.

Travel sector showing positive sales growth for Ferrero

18-Nov-2010 - Chocolate giant Ferrero has recently released a string of travel snack items after analysts reported a strong growth surge in the travel confectionery category over the past two years.

ADM expects higher sustainable cocoa output in 2011

18-Nov-2010 - Participation in ADM’s cocoa growing certification programme - Serap - has tripled since its implementation and it has provided almost 49,000 metric tonnes of sustainable cocoa in the period, said the cocoa processor as it conducts a review of the programme established in the Ivory Coast in 2005.

New multi-vitamin dark chocolate range

15-Nov-2010 - The launch of a new multi-vitamin dark chocolate product has extended the functional chocolate range of US based nutraceutical confectionery company, Hero Nutritionals.

Further growth for functional chewing gum, predicts analyst

10-Nov-2010 - “Strong growth” is predicted for functional chewing gum in 2009-2014 due to an increasing demand for health-oriented products, according to Euromonitor.

Canadian private label consumers becoming older and wealthier, says Nielsen

22-Oct-2010 - The typical Canadian consumer of private label products is changing – becoming older and wealthier, according to a new study from The Nielsen Company.

Fairtrade cocoa supply can support chocolate brand switch, FLO

20-Oct-2010 - There is enough volume of Fairtrade cocoa available to supply more large brands switching product lines to Fairtrade, according to the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO).

News in brief

Kelloggs wins industry advertising award

18-Oct-2010 - A Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Squares advert won the 2010 gold award for Long Term Effectiveness at the bi-annual IAPI Advertising Effectiveness awards (ADFX) last week.

Sugar confectionery booming in India

13-Oct-2010 - The Indian confectionery market witnessed the launch of over 200 products in various categories last year, thus ranked, according to Datamonitor, in the top 20 in terms of global new product launches in 2009.

Mintel predicts 12.9% chocolate sales growth for 2015

11-Oct-2010 - Seasonal and chocolate box sales are projected to increase by 12.9 per cent between 2010 and 2015, growing to an estimated £4.1bn by 2015, according to a Mintel report.

Tagging system said to boost cocoa traceability

07-Oct-2010 - A new tagging system is said to provide enhanced levels of quality control and transparency in a leading cocoa supplier’s production chain to provide assurance to chocolate product manufacturers about the quality and origin of the bean.

Kraft opens Swiss R&D centre to ensure gum has regional flavour

05-Oct-2010 - Kraft said its new innovation centre in Switzerland, inaugurated today, will ensure innovations in chewing gum and sugar confectionery have regional appeal.

Japan seeing hike in value-added confectionery launches

29-Sep-2010 - The chocolate category still accounts for over half of new confectionery product launches in Japan, but the functional segment is beginning to steal some of the limelight, according to a new report from market researchers Datamonitor

Perfetti to boost Indian plant capacity on market gains

28-Sep-2010 - Perfetti van Melle is set to increase capacity in a plant in southern India as its two year long marketing efforts pay dividends in terms of its gum and éclair market penetration, according to a report in the Hindu Business Line.

News in brief

Chr Hansen sees natural colour potential in North Africa

28-Sep-2010 - Food manufacturers in Morocco and other North African countries are facing the same pressure as those in Europe to remove synthetic colours form products, reports Chr Hansen.

News in brief

Nestle to build R&D centre in India

23-Sep-2010 - Nestle is investing around CHF50m in a new R&D centre in Gurgaon, India, as it expects 45 per cent of its global sales to come from emerging markets within a decade.