Cargill Incorporated is to acquire European industrial chocolate
company OCG Cacao as its first significant investment into
chocolate manufacturing in Europe.
Nestlé Rowntree has already got itself into trouble with its Yorkie
chocolate bar featuring the tagline 'Not for Girls' but appears
happy to step on a few more toes with the latest development for
the brand.
Despite the failure of Cancun, it still seems likely that Europe's
sugar regime will be overhauled. Europe's farm commissioner said
that the continuation of the EU's heavily subsidy sugar industry is
simply unviable.
Consumers tempted by bigger portions for less money might be
getting better value but they are also putting their health at
risk, the World Cancer Research Fund in the UK claimed yesterday.
The EU has asked the Ivory Coast, to abolish a law that requires
all cocoa beans to be exported in jute bags. This would mean cocoa
could only be exported in 60 kg or 65 kg bags rather than in bulk.
The $3 billion market for food bars is expected to more than double
by 2007, largely due to the popularity these items enjoy among US
women, according to 'The US Market for Food Bars'.
The UK's FSA has published guidance notes to accompany the new
cocoa and chocolate product regulations in an effort to achieve a
'more consistent application and enforcement of the regulations'.
The launch of Confectionery Manufacturing Expo Americas, the new
candy expo for the industry's suppliers, was announced this week.
The event will be held on 13 to 14 September 2004 at the Navy Pier,
Chicago.
Gum is by far the most profitable segment of the global
confectionery market, and looks set to remain so for some years to
come as new functional and healthy variants are launched.
Crowds of food industry professionals will start pouring through
the doors of Chicago's McCormick Place South building this weekend
for the opening of the IFT Annual Meeting + FOOD EXPO. This year's
event - opened by Health...
UK arm of Nestle will cut type of fat linked to heart disease. The
move reflects increasing pressure on food manufacturers to reduce
the levels of trans fatty acids (TFAs) and comes in the same week
that US government announces all...
Confectionery producers in Ukraine are confident that they will be
able to increase output by 10 per cent this year, mainly as a
result of a recovery in exports to Russia.
The German NGG union, which represents many chocolate industry
workers in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, has agreed to meet
employer representatives for talks next week.
The date for Confectionery Manufacturing Expo (CM-expo), Europe's
first show dedicated to the suppliers and buyers of the chocolate
and confectionery manufacturing industry, has been confirmed.
Vietnam's burgeoning cocoa industry received a significant boost
last week after the US government confirmed it would provide $4
million (€3.4m) in development aid.
The goal of genuine global free trade in sugar is only possible
through the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said a US sugar
industry expert before a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee
yesterday.
Vietnam is halfway through its target of planting 500 hectares of
cocoa this year. The country, famed for its quality coffee
production, wants to become less reliant on one single cash crop.
Cadbury Schweppes has hit out at critics of its Get Active
programme. But, market analysts Datamonitor ask, is this agressive
tactic the right way to head off criticism of the scheme?
Biscuit, confectionery and snacks producers in the UK have to
invest and innovate in order to survive, and the government should
do more to help them, according to a speaker at this week's BCCCA
Technology Conference.
Kerry has expanded its business in the US with the acquisition of
two food ingredients businesses - including one focused on the
confectionery market - for $67 million (€61.9m).
Price discounting by retailers and the strength of the Swiss franc
severly reduced exports of biscuits from Switzerland to Germany, by
far the most important foreign market. The situation is no better
at home, with cheap imports reducing...
Only a 5 per cent increase in export sales last year prevented the
Swiss sugar confectionery industry from suffering its second
successive decline in annual sales.
European consumers are far more cynical about genetically modified
ingredients than their US counterparts, as a study on attitudes to
GM biscuits has shown.
The food industry could shortly be using a new, bio-based approach
to manufacturing mannitol - the minty-tasting sugar alcohol used as
a powdery coating on chewing gum, confectionery and pills - as
scientists report on new method...
The International Sweets and Biscuits Fair (ISM) held last month in
Cologne, Germany, clearly illustrated how kids and adults are
targeted by confectionery groups.
Confectionery is one of many segments of the food industry plagued
by the risk of product 'contamination' with peanuts - a serious
problem for people with an allergy to the nut.
Private labels are yet to make much of an inroad into the
confectionery segment, but new analysis from Euromonitor suggests
that the premium chocolate market could provide a rich vein of
growth for private label in the future.
