Oxfam will step up its campaign to improve the treatment of people and resources that form part of the supply chain of the world’s biggest food conglomerates, after it cast industry responses to its damning Behind the Brands report as ‘bland’ and ‘complacent’.
Associated British Foods – worst-in-class in an Oxfam report critical of 10 food giants for essentially operating under a corporate social responsibility (CSR) “veil of secrecy” – has hit back, slamming the report ‘s findings as “ridiculous”.
Candy makers must take responsibility to tackle obesity and should act before regulators force their hands, says Mars Chocolate North America's president.
GMO Inside, a national coalition of companies and organizations, has marshaled a public Valentine’s Day campaign to pressure Hershey and Mars to drop GMO ingredients or to label them in their chocolate candies.
A US not-for-profit organisation has slammed the “murky issue” around potential risks of nanomaterial use and pledged to test products to assess their safety.
Eleven chocolate companies including Nestlé and Kraft have been fined over €60m ($82m) for colluding to raise chocolate prices in Germany, while price fixing investigations continue in the US and Canada.
The chocolate industry is behind in tackling some cocoa supply issues and must work more closely to avert shortages, according to Mars’ head of sustainability.
Major industry players including Mars, Mondelez International and Barry Callebaut are due to appear at the World Cocoa Conference in the Ivory Coast, which gets underway today.
Mars has announced that it invested $30m on cocoa sustainability initiatives last year, and plans to invest the same amount each year until the decade is out.
Mars France is working with beekeepers to determine whether blue and green honey produced by bees in Northeastern France is caused by its nearby M&M's processing plant.
Kraft’s global snacks spin-off Mondelez will face fierce competition from the likes of Mars and Nestlé in the emerging confectionery markets of China and Russia, according to an analyst from Euromonitor International.
US Halloween candy spending is projected to rise this year and the major players Mars and Hershey will be raking in the profits with seasonal variants of popular brands, according to an analyst from Euromonitor.
Global food and drink giant Mars has issued a letter to a local fish and chip shop in Scotland asking it to add a disclaimer on battered Mars bars as the tradition is out of step with the confectioner’s marketing code to promote healthy active lifestyles.
Confectionery giant Mars is set to launch a slimmer sister to its trademark Mars bar in the UK later this month, with a new caramel only version containing 20% less calories due to hit the shelves.
Mars has opened a €80m (RUB 3.3bn) chocolate factory in Russia’s Ulyanovsk region as it looks to capture a greater share of the highest value BRIC chocolate market.
Mars Chocolate has introduced Malteasers made with Fairtrade certified cocoa to the UK market as part of its ongoing pledge to achieve cocoa sustainability.
Urgent action was necessary to avoid the “bleak situation” of a serious global shortage of cocoa supplies within a decade, Fiona Dawson, president of Mars Chocolate UK, warned yesterday (June 12).
Mars Chocolate UK in Slough – home of Mars, Snickers, Galaxy and Maltesers – hosted a visit by MPs and Peers yesterday (June 12) as part of ‘See Inside Manufacturing’ (SIM) initiative.
The European Commission has passed a regulation permitting the use of a food additive commonly used in beverages to print celebratory messages on hard confectionery after a request from Mars Chocolate UK.
Confectionery giant Mars has made ‘significant’ progress in fulfilling its pledge to purchase its cocoa supply from certified sustainable sources after it announced plans to purchase nearly 90,000 tons of sustainable cocoa in 2012.
New methods for measuring the stereochemical forms of flavanols in cocoa that could determine whether health benefits can be derived have moved a step closer, say Mars.
Leading confectioners Nestle, Mars and Kraft are among the signatories to a UK government pledge to cut five billion calories from the nation’s daily diet.
New insights into the distinct roles of roles of flavanols and procyanidins in the human body could provide a fundamental scientific basis for understanding their potential benefits for heart health, say Mars.
The Uk’s Advertsiting Standards Authority (ASA) said Mars did not breach marketing regulations in its Snickers twitter campaign featuring footballer Rio Ferdinand and glamour model Katie Price.
Mars Chocolate North America has opened a solar garden at a production facility in Henderson, Nevada that will provide 100% electricity during peak operating hours.
Mars has become the subject of an investigation by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority following a campaign involving footballer Rio Ferdinand and model Katie Price to endorse its Snickers bar using social media site Twitter.
Dutch food equipment maker, Tanis Food Tec (TFT), has launched a machine that seeks to address the problem of overheating during the aeration process, which causes the mallows to lose shape and results in inconsistent production.
Mars chocolate bars in the Netherlands are to carry UTZ certified marks from Feburary 2012 as Mars sets targets for its cocoa to be fully sustainable worldwide by 2020.
Marshmallow colour and flavour innovation and an extension of its red shade portfolio have been the focus of recent R&D work at natural ingredients producer Wild.
Mars has announced that Maltesers will be its first brand to carry the Fairtrade mark from June 2012, the commitment follows similar moves from Cadbury and Nestle.
Mars says growing demand for its confectionery products in the US has prompted the firm to invest in a new “state-of-the-art” manufacturing facility in the country.
Confectionery giant Mars predicts a major cocoa shortage by 2020 and reveals harmonization of global cocoa certification programmes to ensure meaningful income hikes for farmers is one of its sustainable cocoa project goals.
