Weak performance in the UK combined with financial irregularities
in Nigerian operations has added up to an unsettled year for global
confectionery giant Cadbury Schweppes, according to a trading
update announced today.
Mars has become one of the first food processors to run afoul of
the EU's greenhouse gas controls scheme, with the UK's Environment
Agency yesterday fining the company €78,080 (£52,532) for breaching
the rules.
European confectionery giant Nestlé is feeling the heat from
consumer worries over health and nutrition with the closure of
three of the company's main facilities in France.
The potential of the brain health nutrition market is only starting
to be realised, and Nestlé underlined its intentions yesterday to
get a head start on the competition with the signing of an
agreement with the Swiss Federal Institute...
Four days after announcing the recall of twenty-five chocolate
products due to salmonella contamination, Hershey's and the
Canadian food inspection agency (CFIA) still refuse to reveal the
exact source and cause of the contamination.
Mars' CocoaVia nutritional chocolate bar range has had its healthy
image boosted by a new study indicating that the product actively
reduces cholesterol levels.
The world's second largest gum company, Cadbury Schweppes, is to
introduce its most popular chewing gum brand into the UK market
next year, putting the pressure on foremost competitor Wrigley and
adding to larger firm domination...
UK snack maker Kitchen Range Foods has launched a new range of
individually packaged chocolate doughnuts, created using the iconic
Cadbury confectionery brand.
Nestlé France has outsourced its supply chain transport to Geodis
for the next three years,under a contract that guarantees the
Switzerland-based agrifood giant guaranteed performancetargets.
Major restructuring for Swiss based confectionery company Nestlé
has cost 645 jobs in England as the company prepares to move
production of some of its core brands.
US based confectionery maker Hershey has launched a new range of
chocolate, designed to offer consumers a more upmarket version of
the traditional indulgence.
The UK Cadbury salmonella scare continues to dog the company as its
local council applies for around £30,000 (€44,500) in funding to
investigate safety breaches at the factory where contamination
occurred.
European confectionery giant Nestle has overcome rising energy
costs to report strong profits in the company's first half results
announced today, but admits there remains room for improvement in
UK brands.
Global confectionery maker Cadbury Schweppes has opened its first
R&D centre in south-east Asia, as it seeks to drive growth in
emerging markets like China, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
South Korea's leading confectionery maker Lotte has bought a
Shanghai-based chocolate company, as it seeks to expand in the
fast-growing Chinese market.
Confectionary giant Mars has lauded recently published research as
further evidence of the benefits of flavanols from cocoa for a wide
range of health conditions, and looks set to lead to a new wave of
cocoa flavanol-enriched products...
Cadbury Schweppes, the world's biggest confectionery maker, signed
an agreement yesterday with Vietnam's leading food maker Kinh Do,
giving it access to the company's extensive distribution network.
Cadbury Schweppes was the most likely source of an outbreak of
Salmonella montevideo that poisoned 37 people from February to June
this year, according to the UK's health authorities.
Global confectionery giant, Hershey, has announced encouraging
sales and rising profits - thanks to a strong focus on product
innovation and seasonal marketing in the last year.
Cadbury Schweppes has been forced to improve cleaning processes at
its Herefordshire factory after last month's recall of
Salmonella-contaminated products.
Leading food manufacturer Kraft has paid £575m (€829.6m) for United
Biscuit's southern European snack business. The deal was signed off
over the weekend, said British daily The Financial Times.
Cadbury Schweppes has come under renewed criticism following a
regulatory finding that it did not adhere to EU safety measures at
its Herefordshire plant, where salmonella was discovered earlier
this year.
Chocolate has a nice feeling to it - tasty, fun, luxurious and
slightly sinful. This is comfort food, accessible to all and
epitomised in the recent film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The chairman of Kraft Foods, the world's second biggest food
company, Roger Deromedi, has launched an attack on EU and US trade
barriers that are driving up the price of commodity ingredients
such as sugar and coffee.
Nestle doesn't expect raw material prices to rise further this
year, despite a recent FAO report that forecasts an increase of
over 2 per cent in the world food import bill in 2006.
Cadbury Schweppes says that it is unlikely to be able to deliver
margin growth within the company's goal ranges for 2006, though US
gum sales have been strong.
Nestle, the world's biggest foodmaker, has agreed to buy the Uncle
Tobys cereal, soups and nutritious snacks brand from Burns Philp
for A$890 million (€523.2m) to expand its range of healthier foods
in Australia.
Hershey's expansion of its health and nutrition initiative
underlines the extent to which chocolate makers are keen to tap
into consumer health concerns.
The opinion of an advocate-general of the European Court of Justice
on UK anti-tax avoidance rules could benefit multinationals such as
confectioner Cadbury Schweppes.
Swiss food giant Nestlé has announced a first-quarter sales rise of
14.1 per cent to CHF22.8bn (€14.5bn), beating analyst expectations
and reconfirming its full-year target of a five to six per cent
growth rate.
Iconic chocolate and snacks brand Hershey has announced
disappointing sales figures, but posted a seven per cent rise in
quarterly profit as the company works on product innovation and
cost minimisation.
