Thorntons chief executive Jonathan Hart has described the firm’s 2010/11 trading year as “one of the toughest consumer spending environments we have experienced”.
Despite volatile cocoa prices, fragile consumer confidence and retail price pressure, positive first-half results posted by Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli point to a high level of resilience at the premium end of the confectionery category.
Cadbury has become the latest food brand to dip a toe in the in the experimental waters of augmented reality as part of a growing trend in interactive packaging.
The economic downturn has put the brakes on the development of the Russian confectionery market and led to subdued growth for Nestlé in Russia in the first half of 2011, according to the company.
Improved productivity, reduced cardboard consumption and the elimination of waste have followed the installation of Witness simulation software at Kraft’s Cadbury plant in Bournville, according to the company.
While the boss of Kraft Foods believes the whole of the business is worth less than the sum of its parts, it is by no means obvious that cutting it up and rearranging it will transform its growth prospects, according to one analyst.
Kraft, in its second quarter results, reports continuing challenges ahead for its gum and candy division in developed markets, and claims the Cadbury takeover is a fundamental earnings driver, with its global chocolate earnings up 9 per cent.
Kraft Foods has said it intends to split into two companies, in a move that would create a global snacks powerhouse separate from its North American grocery business.
Japanese ingredients supplier Ajinomoto has seen Q1 sales drop 2.6% to ¥296.3bn, with slow global economies and the aftermath of the March natural disasters in Japan affecting the results.
US chocolate giant Hershey reported net income of $130.12m for the second quarter, with net income for the period up o $129.56m from $117.05m in the same quarter in 2010.
Record confectionery performance drove UK-based confectionery and snack foods firm Zetar to achieve adjusted profit before tax of £6.7m; up six percent for the year ended 30th April 2011.
The Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has called off scheduled strike action at Burton’s Foods Blackpool site, after the union agreed to further talks with company management.
Nestlé has paid out bought €1.2bn for a majority stake in leading Chinese confectionery maker Hsu Fu Chi, with the Swiss group flagging up access to extensive production capabilities and a major distribution network as its wins.
Kraft is considering bids from developers interested in buying the iconic former Cadbury factory in Keynsham, while the site's equipment is being sold via an online auction.
US private equity firm Blackstone Group has bought a majority stake in Blackpool-based Tangerine Confectionery, FoodManufacture.co.uk understands, while management has also reinvested in the firm.
Border Biscuits is investing a further £2.5 million to increase manufacturing capabilities and plant capacity over the next 18 months as the Scottish biscuit maker targets a 50% turnover increase over the next few years.
Thorntons announced today that it plans to close at least 120 own stores, replacing many with franchised outlets, and will also seek savings of more than £2m a year by cutting supply chain costs.
Wirral Borough Council says it ''left no stone unturned'' in trying to persuade Burton’s Foods not to close its Moreton biscuit factory, and even offered the company a £450,000 grant as a sweetener.
David J. West has resigned from the top job at Hershey’s to take on the role of CEO at Del Monte – and John P. Bilbrey has been appointed as interim president and CEO at The Hershey Company.
Palsgaard has aquired the remaining 50 per cent share of Emulsion Holland and its South African subsidiary as it looks to leverage new technologies for chocolate emulsifiers in the future.
Double-digit growth in the beverage, savory and confectionery sectors helped International Flavors & Fragrances to achieve revenue of $714m in the first quarter of this year; nine per cent up on the same period of last year.
Private equity group Blackstone is close to acquiring the stake owned by investors Growth Capital Partners in Tangerine Confectionery, the largest British manufacturer of sugar confectionery and branded popcorn, claim media reports.
Former Thorntons chairman Peter Thornton says the firm's current woes are due to an unduly large shop chain, poorer product quality and "extremely bad" retail marketing.
Nestlé UK may keep its headquarters in Croydon, despite reissuing a warning that it is "reviewing other options" outside the London borough in a bid to escape its dilapidated site by 2014.
AAK is taking its rationalisation to a new stage in Q2 2011 as it repositions away from commodities towards higher value-lower volume specialty food ingredients.
Kraft Foods has reported strong sales and profit growth in the first quarter as it increased prices and advertising efforts for core brands to tackle higher commodity costs.
Reflecting the continuing industry trend toward outsourcing, Barry Callebaut said a new supply deal it has agreed with Hershey will put its annual deliveries beyond the current 80,000 metric tonnes.
UK confectionery manufacturer and retailer, Thorntons, has issued a profit warning citing the hot weather conditions over the Easter trading period as a factor in its poor own stores sales.
Kraft Foods is leveraging the growing trend for chocolate and biscuits in developing markets with the opening of a new $80m production facility in Brazil.
Belgian supplier Puratos says its undisclosed acquisition this week of 17-year-old Latvian fruit fillings firm, Pure Food, is about expansion into the central and eastern European and Nordic regions – and the supermarket channel - but its artisanal customer...
Hershey clocked a profit for the first quarter of 2011, with it citing new product launches, expansion outside the US and a 30 percent increase advertising spending as key to the positive financials.
Cadbury and Nestlé say their Easter egg packaging is meeting high sustainability standards, amid calls from a UK government authority for confectioners to further reduce this seasonal packaging and ensure it is readily recyclable.
Former Harrods supplier Browne’s Chocolates has been bought out of liquidation by entrepreneurs who previously transformed a Cornish brewer, FoodManufacture.co.uk can reveal.
Kraft/Cadbury in Thailand has cut its energy use by 60 per cent and operating expenses by 50 per cent after changing the dehumidifier it used at its chewing gum plant.
Zetar has bought chocolate company Derwent Lynton, with ceo Ian Blackburn telling FoodManufacture.co.uk that the confectionery and snacks group is targeting more acquisitions.
The Wrigley Company is launching a new calcium enriched gum in Australia and New Zealand, claiming its ‘on-the-go’ delivery system can help address the reported calcium intake deficiency among 90 per cent of the Australian population.
Confectioners will probably get away with increasing prices on chocolate bars without significantly denting demand because they are generally low ticket items bought as treats in an area with high brand loyalty, analysts have predicted.
Comments made by the Nestlé chair that child labour is “almost impossible” to stop, contradicts the company’s commitments to ending child exploitation in Africa, said the IUF, a global trade union representing food workers.
Ongoing high prices for raw materials including cocoa, milk powder, sugar and wheat and a decline in contract manufacturing sees Swedish confectionery group Cloetta reporting second-quarter sales loss and falling first-half earnings.
The chances of Ferrero making a move on Parmalat to create an Italian food super-group have increased after the Italian government pushed through a decree to frustrate Lactalis’ bid to gain management control of Parmalat.
Unite has written to Kraft ceo Irene Rosenfeld asking her to fulfil a legal obligation to consult union leaders on any changes to pay and conditions for Cadbury workers.
Workers at the New England Confectionary Company, (Necco) reacted positively to the news that the ‘for sale’ sign has been removed, with the equity group owners revealing than they will hold on to the firm for at least another year
Chocolate maker Bendicks has announced the start of a consultation on the future of its Hampshire chocolate facility that could see 87 UK jobs moved abroad.
