All news articles for July 2020

Fairtrade America hires Peg Willingham as new executive director

Fairtrade

Fairtrade America hires Peg Willingham as new executive director

By Anthony Myers

In her new role, Willingham will lead the US chapter of Fairtrade International in increasing brand awareness and engagement with consumers and businesses as well as identifying new partnership opportunities and expanding Fairtrade’s influence in policy...

Beau & Bon Ltd managing director Maeda Mitsuhiro visits Uncle Joe's factory and meets MD John Winnard.  Pic: Uncle Joe's

In brief

Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls in demand in Japan

By Anthony Myers

Premium British sweet brand Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls has seen sales surge in Japan and is busy supplying an urgent order for 1,200 packets and 672 tins of traditional mint balls and 720 packets of sugar free mint balls after consumers fell in love with...

Hotel Chocolat Group posts strong update, despite its retail outlets being closed for 12 weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic. Pic: Hotel Chocolat

Financial results

Hotel Chocolat Group announces 3% revenue increase for FY20

By Anthony Myers

Premium British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat Group plc has announced revenue of £136m ($174m), an increase of 3% compared with the same period last year, despite its physical high-street outlets being shuttered for 12 weeks because of the coronavirus lockdown.

Proseal's new ProPosition - tray positioning system. Pic: Proseal

Production

Proseal launches new ‘revolutionary tray positioning system’

By Anthony Myers

Tray sealing specialist Proseal claims to have launched a revolutionary tray positioning system that calculates the required tray-spacing set-up parameters for individual tray sealing tool-sets, eliminating the trial and error usually associated with...

The Kinders donation mean Cedar Creek’s team can continue to care for local animals, including wombats. Pic: Cedar Creek Wombat Rescue

Community

Kinder makes donation to help with wombat rescue in Australia

By Anthony Myers

Family confectionery brand, Kinder has made a vital contribution to Australia’s Cedar Creek Wombat Rescue that will support the rehabilitation of native animals in bushfire-affected areas of the Hunter Valley region.

The temporary closure of around 500 of Lindt's own shops during the Easter season hit its half-year sales. Pic: Lindt & Sprüngli

Financial results

Lindt sales and profit hit by Easter lockdown due to COVID-19

By Anthony Myers

Lindt & Sprüngli reported a strong start to 2020, but the Swiss chocolate maker said it expected organic sales to fall around 5-7% this year after COVID-19 related store closures hit sales and profit following the global shutdown.

Südzucker said it suffered a slight drop in sales in the first quarter. Pic: Südzucker

Healthy Sweets Special Report

The business of sugar

By Anthony Myers

Supplies and demand remains robust in global markets as confectionery rides out coronavirus storm.

DouxMatok is all about making sugar sweeter and smarter - and using less in confectionery products. Pic: DouxMatok

Healthy Sweets Special Report

DouxMatok: making sugar sweeter and smarter for a more healthy treat

By Anthony Myers

The sugar industry is continuing to search for solutions to multiple growth challenges including the increased use of artificial sweeteners and a consumer focus on low or sugar-free products. One Israeli startup, DouxMatok, has an innovative solution...

Ohso's healthy chocolate is now available online at Ocado. Pic: Ohso

Retail

Ohso probiotic chocolate brand launches on Ocado

By Anthony Myers

Award-winning probiotic chocolate brand, Ohso, has announced it has launched its range of low-calorie chocolate bars on Ocado, the UK’s high-end online grocery retailer.

Open for business in 2021? ProSweets says industry is ready to get back to normal. Pic: ProSweets

Events

ProSweets Cologne reports keen interest in 2021 event

By Anthony Myers

Supplier industry for sweets and snacks is placing its bets on a re-start after the coronavirus pandemic and is already looking at numerous bookings from firms in Europe and beyond.

The three initiatives bring together a large part of the national cocoa and chocolate industry. Pic: ConfectioneryNews

Sustainability

European platforms for sustainable cocoa join forces for stronger commitment

By Anthony Myers

Three European platforms for sustainable cocoa, The German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO), the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO) and the Belgian platform Beyond Chocolate have signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)’ to instigate...

Puratos has ramped up its presence in Africa. Pic: GettyImages/Ridofranz

Puratos boosts food security in Africa with expanded presence

By Gill Hyslop

The global ingredients specialist has opened subsidiaries in Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia and Nigeria to cement customer relationships and localise production using indigenous raw materials, which will lessen the continent’s reliance on food imports and...