Breaking News on Confectionery & Biscuit Processing

Ex-Innocent Drinks entrepreneurs secure first major listing for gum

11-Jun-2010 - Peppersmith - the premium gum firm created by former Innocent Drinks executives Mike Stevens and Dan Shrimpton – has secured its first supermarket listing.

New sweet factory planned to meet rising demand

11-Jun-2010 - Scottish sweet maker, Tilly Confectionery, plans to build a new £1.1m confectionery factory in the Stirlingshire town of Alva in response to rising demand for its brands of fudge, macaroon and tablet; a medium-hard sugary confection local to Scotland.

Godrej Hershey set to introduce chocolate products in India, report

10-Jun-2010 - Indian joint venture Godrej Hershey is reported to be introducing chocolate products into amdist strong competition from dominant players such as Cadbury and Nestlé.

SMEs make significant savings by collaborating on indirect purchasing

09-Jun-2010 - Small and medium-sized food manufacturers have made significant savings on indirect expenditure areas such as telecoms and stationery by collaborating to secure preferential buying terms.

Chupa Chups facility relocated as Asia-Pacific demand grows

07-Jun-2010 - Perfetti van Melle, the Dutch-Italian confectioner, has announced plans to relocate a Chupa Chups production factory in Spain in order to adapt production capacity to global market demand, with recent gains reported in the Asia-Pacific region.

Analyst: Tate & Lyle "unlikely" to buy National Starch

04-Jun-2010 - The acquisition of National Starch appears to be off the agenda at Tate & Lyle, with the firm now "set to fall into enemy hands", according to analysts at Investec Securities.

Chocolate could lower cholesterol for CVD risk group, study

03-Jun-2010 - Short-term cocoa consumption can significantly lower blood cholesterol, but only in modest quantities and only in those with risk factors for heart diseases, according to a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials by Chinese researchers.

Fairtrade chocolate proving recession proof in UK

03-Jun-2010 - A hike in sales volumes of Fairtrade chocolate in the UK are expected following a retailer’s decision to extend its own brand range of the ethically sourced chocolate.

Comment

Scientific failings are the organic industry’s gain

31-May-2010 - Are organic foods healthier? The sad truth is that nearly 100,000 studies later, we just don't know. Meanwhile, this lack of certainty presents major business opportunities for the organic food industry.

Barry Callebaut sees huge growth in Brazil as plant opens

31-May-2010 - A new Barry Callebaut chocolate factory in Brazil, which commenced operation last week, is building on the predicted growth for consumption of chocolate products in Latin America, according to the pod-to-pallet chocolate maker.

Special edition

Markets: Nanotech food struggles to graduate from the lab

28-May-2010 - Nanotechnology has been a buzz word in the food industry for years but that has done little to turn ideas in a lab into commercially viable innovations.

News in brief

Tortilla chips sole offender in Danish GM survey

26-May-2010 - An investigation by Danish authorities into illegal GMOs in food products found all but one batch of tortilla chips followed content and labelling riles.

PureCircle establishes institute to promote science-based stevia information

26-May-2010 - Major stevia supplier PureCircle has established an institute with the stated aim of providing a consistent voice on the science behind the zero-calorie plant-derived sweetener.

Italian Chocolate producer ICAM targets North American market

24-May-2010 - A new US sales office will provide private label chocolatier ICAM with a platform to expand into North America and Mexico.

Industry backs sale of EU intervention milk powder

24-May-2010 - The confectionery division of the UK Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has backed the move by the European Commission to open tenders for the sale of intervention skimmed milk powder (SMP) as a way of bolstering raw material supply for the sector.

New joint venture aims to secure higher quality cocoa supply

20-May-2010 - Blommer Chocolate, Petra Foods, and Cemoi Chocolatier have created a joint venture that will establish 30 fermentation centres to improve the supply of high quality, fermented cocoa from the Ivory Coast.

Kraft Food pledges commitment to Cadbury Ireland

19-May-2010 - Senior Kraft Food executives pledged their commitment to Cadbury Ireland this week in discussions with the Irish minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe.

Comment

IOM report: One step forward, two steps back

17-May-2010 - The call for better biomarkers to substantiate health claims is a bold and timely move, but we need to move away from trying to judge foods as pharmaceuticals.

First quarter bears fruit for Frutarom

17-May-2010 - Frutarom has reported a positive start to 2010, indicated that the acquisition-hungry firm is back on track after a tough 12 months.

UK confectionery maker penalised over worker injury

14-May-2010 - UK manufacturer Magna Specialist Confectioners has been fined £75,000 for breaching equipment regulations after a worker suffered serious head injury when completing maintenance on machinery.

High calorie foods seen as positive when restricted

14-May-2010 - Restraining from eating high calorie foods can influence the positive associations in consumers’ minds, according to two Dutch studies that could help inform measures and more research on healthier eating.

Candy tax due in Washington next month

12-May-2010 - A sales tax on certain candy and gum products is due to come into effect in Washington State on June 1, as part of the state’s effort to plug its $2.8bn deficit.

Healthier snacking informs Zetar sales growth

12-May-2010 - UK snack and confectionery group, Zetar, claims its new healthy snacking range informed its accelerated sales growth and aided “strong” financial recovery in the second half of 2009.

RSSL takes on global R&D role as Kraft restructures

10-May-2010 - Reading Scientific Services (RSSL) will house an expanded global science and technology centre supporting Kraft worldwide following a radical restructuring that will also see Cadbury Bournville transformed into a global centre of excellence for chocolate research.