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.
Exceptionally hot weather in the last week before Easter meant that
like-for-like sales at UK confectionery maker and retailer
Thorntons dropped by 7 per cent.
Following a proposal from the European Commission to allow the use
of two new intense sweeteners the European Competitiveness Council
gave the all clear on Monday.
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?
The US arm of confectioner Perfetti Van Melle has launched new
packaging for its Mentos mints product. The company believes that
its new Mentos Box will offer the consumer better value and will be
easier to use.
Ingredients developer zuChem this week announced that it has raised
a considerable chunk of capital in order to develop new methods to
manufacture alternative sweeteners.
Kellogg's Real Fruit Winders are to be put to the test in a new web
poll of young consumers. This is the latest in a series of online
initiatives to promote new confectionery.
Cadbury Schweppes is to introduce a scheme offering schools the
chance to acquire sports equipment in exchange for chocolate bar
wrappers. But the government-endorsed scheme has been widely
criticised, not least by the UK Food Commission,...
Despite an increasingly competitive environment and the impact of a
global economic downturn the biscuits market in Europe is alive and
well, according to a news report from Esmerk.
Swedish ingredients company Karlshamns reports that growing
competition and decreasing margins characterised the market for
chocolate fats designed to replace cocoa butter.
Swiss food group Nestlé has reported solid organic growth for the
first quarter of 2003, stressing the importance of product
innovation during the period, but chocolate sales were affected by
the late Easter.
Wm Wrigley, the US-based gum maker, is staring defeat in the face
in its bid to register its Doublemint trademark in the EU. A senior
legal advisor at the European Court of Justice yesterday said that
an earlier decision by a lower...
Barry Callebaut, the Swiss chocolate producer, has continued to go
from strength to strength despite depressed consumer spending and
the strength of the Swiss franc. As in Q1, first half figures were
boosted by the Stollwerck acquisition...
Topps, the US-based company behind the Bazooka bubblegum has
reported a decline in sales for 2002, caused mainly by the collapse
in sales of its Pokemon branded confectionery items.
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.
Nestle Rowntree is entering the bite-sized sector with the launch
of Kit Kat Kubes in the UK, the latest company to jump onto the
bandwagon of bite-sized innovations.
Nestlé is the most popular chocolate producer in Russia, but other
international companies still play second fiddle to the numerous
local (or even regional) producers there. But the market is set to
grow over the next five years,...
Twist-Lyte and Hicor, part of the Exxon Mobil Group, has launched a
specially redesigned film, which is claimed to make production
faster and more efficient.
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).
Twist-Lyte Hicor already claims to be the lightest twist wrap film
on the market, but now it can offer confectionery producers greater
efficiency and production speed as well.
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.
Callard & Bowser-Suchard has expanded its Altoids breath mint
brand into the wider US sugar confectionery market under the
Altoids Sours name with a striking pack design.
Four new chocolate bars from US-based Endangered Species Chocolate
Company were launched last week at the Natural Food Products Expo
West in California.
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...
