Consuming polyphenol-rich dark chocolate or cocoa products may reduce total and LD cholesterol levels, but has no effect on HDL levels, according to a meta-analysis of 10 clinical trials.
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.
Recalls of chocolate products could be significantly lower if there was more rigorous traceability in the chocolate supply chain and if brand owners adopted processing techniques that relied on reduced batch dispersion, find a new study.
Children and parents can say goodbye to sticky faces and fingers and stained clothes thanks to the globe’s first non-melting chocolate, claims confectionery manufacturer Choc-o-Bloc.
Sales of chocolate rose by nearly 19 per cent in Italy in the four years up to 2010, driven by the trend towards premium, but also higher selling prices, finds a market review from Leatherhead.
Indian confectionery retail sales grew by seven per cent last year, boosted by “key indulgence categories” such as chocolate and functional gum, says Euromonitor.
There is growth potential for dark chocolate in the functional food sector, with the product carrying most of the heart health claims in the confectionery segment, says Leatherhead Food Research.
Leading pod-to-pallet chocolate supplier, Barry Callebaut, is targeting manufacturers in the Americas with a stevia-based dark chocolate for use in multiple applications, including moulding, enrobing and inclusions.
With cocoa per-tonne prices standing at about €2080 in the aftermath of the Ivory Coast crisis, chocolate suppliers are coming to the fore with solutions to deliver ‘chocolateness’ with less chocolate content in goods like muffins and baked foods.
Enzymatic treatment of cocoa almonds may improve flavour profiles by up to 50 per cent, leading to improved chocolate flavours from low quality almonds, according to new research.
Consuming flavonoid-rich dark chocolate prior to exercise may decrease the potential muscle damaging effects of oxidative stress, suggests a new study.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ADM Cocoa is launching a new chocolate ingredient in dispersible powder form, highlighting a pressing market need to overcome technical challenges of using melted chocolate in dairy products, beverages and confectionery.
Although many previous attempts have shown that heat resistant chocolate is possible, more research is needed to produce a simple, inexpensive, and tasty chocolate that is resistant to melting, according to a new review.
An explosion in Fairtrade chocolate sales last year in Australia has seen it overtake coffee to become the biggest selling Fairtrade certified product in that market, said the organisation behind the standard.
Cocoa powder and dark chocolate has equivalent polyphenol content and greater antioxidant and flavanol content than various super fruits, claims a new study by research scientists based at the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition.
The first 100 per cent single source chocolate from Vietnam is being launched by Belgian B2B producer, Grand-Place, who in a bid to increase output is investing heavily in improving the quality of the cocoa beans from the region.
The fall in cocoa grindings by 2.4 per in the fourth quarter of 2010 is not an indication of slowdown in the recovery of the chocolate market in Europe, claims an industry analyst.
Brazilian researchers claim a spectrometry based tecnique is a cost effective and simple way to determine levels of minerals such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc in chocolate.
Italy has lost a long-running legal battle after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the nation's chocolate producers were guilty of breaking union regulations relating to pack labelling.
The launch of a new multi-vitamin dark chocolate product has extended the functional chocolate range of US based nutraceutical confectionery company, Hero Nutritionals.
Crop processing giant ADM Cocoa is running a series of workshops to show chocolate makers how to get “optimal results” from their formulations, with health trumping new product development.
Cargill’s sweetener experts have further enhanced its reduced calorie chocolate prototype that was shown at FIE in November 2009, with the commercial product set to hit the market at the end of 2011, said the company.
UK supermarket chain, Marks & Spencer, said its entire Swiss chocolate range will now feature a corn starch-based Plantic tray to hold the chocolates, while the outer-box, it added, is made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified cardboard.
Seasonal and chocolate box sales are projected to increase by 12.9 per cent between 2010 and 2015, growing to an estimated £4.1bn by 2015, according to a Mintel report.
A stevia-based chocolate incorporating a blend of dietary fibres has been developed by Barry Callebaut for Belgian confectioner Cavalier for a tablet product to be launched next month.
Frequent chocolate consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in men and women independent of traditional risk factors, according to a review of a national US based heart, lung and blood study.
A hike in demand for lactose free products prompted leading industrial chocolate supplier Barry Callebaut to reformulate a 100 per cent dairy free alternative to milk chocolate.
Ganeden Biotech has teamed up with Italian firm Agostoni Chocolate for the launch of Chocolate Plus Private Label, combining the GanedenBC30 probiotic with premium Italian dark chocolate.
Chocolate products are smashing through the recessionary gloom in the US with sales expected to top $19bn within four years, according to the latest report from research group Packaged Facts.
Adding red palm olein to chocolate spread could boost its antioxidant power and nutrient availability, according to new research published in the journal Food Chemistry.
An observational study analysing the eating habits of 31,823 women suggests that only moderate consumption of high quality chocolate has a positive impact on heart failure risk.
Puratos has combined ingredients from its three sectors – bakery, patisserie and chocolate – to develop new ‘healthy snacking’ concepts for its customers in the food industry.
Nestlé chocolate products recorded double-digit growth in emerging markets, driven partly by the performance of the lowest priced products in its portfolio, said the group as it posted gains of 7.5 per cent in net profit for the first six months of the...
An innovative scheme involving the return of dividends to investors in batches of premium chocolate has raised £3.7m for UK company Hotel Chocolat’s facility and retail outlet expansion plans.
Blends of stevia rebaudiana extract with inulin and polydextrose as bulking agents can produce sucrose free chocolate with little differential noted between it and sucrose sweetened milk chocolate in terms of sensory attributes, finds an Australian study.
