A new chocolate bar which claims to be made from sustainable cocoa
plantations was launched in New York late last month with high
hopes of building on the growing awareness of ethical products
among today’s consumers. Chris Jones...
Flagging consumer interest in Wrigley's Eclipse Flash dissolvable
breath strip product has prompted the US confectioner to shut down
production facilities in the US and shift manufacturing to Europe,
where, it seems, consumers...
Brussels will fight to appeal against a new decision by the World
Trade Organisation that rules the EU illegally subsidises exports
of sugar, ruling in favour of a legal challenge by Australia,
Thailand and Brazil, the world's...
AFSSA, the French food safety authority, has called for a
significant reduction of sugars added to processed foods alongside
stronger backing for foods containing wholegrains and high fibre.
Research published this month suggests that some cocoa and
chocolate products have a very high flavanol content, a factor
which makes them good at protecting the body against cardiovascular
disease. But all chocolate products do not...
In her introductory speech before the European Parliament last
week, farm chief designate Mariann Fischer Boel signalled that
sugar reform and defending EU products at WTO talks were among the
key challenges for EU agriculture over...
Prices remain steady for cocoa, despite news that the start of the
new cocoa harvesting season from the world's biggest producer,
Ivory Coast, has been delayed due to a dispute.
A new gum tax in Ireland proposed to help street cleaning could add
5 to 10 cents to the price of a packet of gum, potentially curbing
growth in a chewing gum market which has been revitalised by sales
of healthy and oral hygiene...
Research from the US suggests that women could have a sweeter tooth
than men - good news for confectionery manufacturers looking to
roll out new products with a feminine slant but less so for women
seeking to keep control of their...
Chocolate makers could see savings from new research that sets out
to tackle the common problem of fat bloom, an unsightly white
powdery film that forms on the outside of chocolate, writes
Lindsey Partos.
A new campaign to reduce sugar levels in foods and consumer diets
in order to tackle the national obesity problem is reportedly being
considered by the UK government, to run after the current attack on
salt is over, writes Chris Mercer.
Northern Foods is facing the possibility of a rapid decline in its
biscuit profit margins as its main customers - the British
supermarket groups - seek to cut costs. The company must now decide
whether to invest in new products, or...
Sugar producers from Serbia and Montenegro will once again benefit
from preferential access to the European Union market, following
the EU's recent lifting of a 15-month ban on duty-free sugar
imports from the country - a move...
Currency translation effects and tough trading conditions in the UK
kept first half sales at Britain's United Biscuits in line with
those seen a year earlier, despite an increased share of sales from
added-value branded products....
Confectionery giant Mars is one of several food companies
collaborating on a new research project designed to provide more
information about phytonutrients, beneficial compounds found in a
range of products, including chocolate.
More research has underlined the heart health benefits of dark
chocolate, shown in a Greek study to improve healthy blood flow and
prevent clots forming.
CSM, the Dutch food ingredients company, is considering the sale of
its sugar confectionery unit in order to concentrate on its core
bakery supplies and sugar operations - despite a very poor
performance from the bakery unit in the...
Efficient, profitable baking is not just a question of having the
right equipment for the job - it is also knowing how to use it
properly. With this in mind, Spooner Vicars, the UK supplier of
bakery equipment, runs regular customised...
The contribution that the common sweetener ingredient sucrose has
made to the growing incidence of obesity is the focus of a dispute
between the US sugar association and a New Zealand scientist.
Food makers will be encouraged to use a low-calorie sweetener
supplied by Danish ingredients firm Arla Food Ingredients with a
new study showing a chocolate bar made with the prebiotic
ingredient is very low in glycaemic load (GL)...
Firm changes to the heavily criticised European sugar regime are
unlikely to have a significant effect on the world sugar market,
and that prices are likely to remain low, a US sugar industry
analyst tells an international sweetener...
Two of the biggest chocolate makers in the UK are to launch
products which will directly compete with some of each other's
biggest brands - an indication, perhaps, that the rich vein of new
product innovation of the last few...
Family-owned US firm JM Huber has become the number one pectin,
xanthan gum and CMC supplier after yesterday agreeing to buy
leading hydrocolloid firm CP Kelco from merchant bank Lehman
Brothers, reports Lindsey Partos.
The European Union last week announced plans for a radical overhaul
of the EU sugar regime, a resolution that is likely to bring about
both applause and criticism from its New Member States in Central
Europe.
Long-awaited changes to Europe's heavily subsidised sugar regime
are on the way after the European Commission tabled a new set of
rules that could lead to cheaper sugar ingredients, writes
Lindsey Partos.
The sweet biscuits market in Asia is set to grow rapidly in coming
years, due mainly to the continuing strength of the China market.
However launches are coming thick and fast throughout the region,
as this week's product launches...
Hanging as a persistent threat to the chocolate industry witches'
broom disease is capable of wiping out entire cacao crops and
sending the price of chocolate rocketing. Despite ongoing research
into the threat confirmed by the...
US agri-giant Cargill has carved a deeper position in the European
chocolate market after Swiss firm Nestlé sold two cocoa processing
activities to the acquisitive private company.
Cheaper sugar ingredients could be on the way for food makers as
rumours continue to circulate about the proposed new rules to the
EU sugar regime that could open up the protected European market,
prompting Danish sugar giant Danisco...
UK scientists are warning that world chocolate production could
fall dramatically if diseases, which have devastated South American
cultivation of cacao (the raw material used for producing
chocolate) over the past 15 years, were...
Cheaper sugar ingredients could be on the way for food makers in
Europe as draft plans for tough changes to the much criticised
sugar regime come to light.
Despite cheaper alternatives to cocoa butter on the market and new
European rules allowing vegetable fats in chocolate formulations,
uptake for the replacers has been slower than expected as reticent
food makers and marketers stick...
Keeping French consumers interested in chocolate has been the
driving force behind brand owners' investment in innovation in
recent years, and the latest product launches highlighted by the
Global New Products Database (GNPD)...
Leading China biscuit manufacturing Fujian Dali Food says that
construction of its new €19 million biscuit factory in Changchun,
Jilin Province, is now well underway, moving it closer towards its
goal of dominating the biscuit market...
With a plethora of brands from which to choose and long-established
patterns of consumption, the prospects of significant growth in the
French chocolate market might seem remote. But a new report
suggests that there is plenty of movement...
Three companies have announced a technology that allows the deposit
gum bases and incorporate gums into candies and lollipops, which is
said to provide new opportunities for the confectionery industry.
Small daily doses of flavonoid-rich dark chocolate eaten over a
two-week period significantly improved blood vessel function,
report US researchers this week, without increasing blood
cholesterol levels.
Arla Foods Ingredients is to launch chocolate using tagatose
sweetner supplied by Spherix Incorporated for products to be sold
in the Australia and New Zealand markets.
A roasting system equipped with state-of-the-art debacterisation
has been developed for US chocolate and cocoa producer Blommer. The
process is claimed to preserve the properties of cocoa better.
Top ingredients supplier Danisco will phase out its activities in
oil and protein crops in order to focus on sugar beet seed, said
the Danish firm this week, in a move reflecting changes to the
European sugar regime in 2006 that will...
The dynamic performance of the Romanian chocolate sector continues
to gather pace with the announcement from Supreme Chocolat that it
has increased its sales in the first quarter by an impressive 120
per cent.
Earlier this month CAOBISCO, the body which represents European
manufacturers of sugar-based foods, came racing to side of the
businesses it represents in the accession countries. Once installed
in an enlarged Europe, the new Member...
Ireland is considering tough new proposals on waste management and
recyling, including a programme to target the management of chewing
gum waste - a move that could effect confectionery manufacturers
there.
Manufacturers of sports supplements may need to reduce sugar levels
in certain products as new research from Japan shows that
preference for sweetness decreases after exercise.
Sugar prices look set to rise in the accession countries by up to
60 per cent, warns the European chocolate and confectionery body
CAOBISCO this week, predicting major set backs for food
manufacturers installed in the zone. The warning...
Romanian sugar producers say they are facing possible collapse
because of suffocating sugar quotas which have been in place for
the last five years, in the run up to accession.
Switzerland's sweet and savoury biscuit sector saw a return to
growth in 2003 due entirely to a strong upswing in export sales -
but domestic sales fell for the second year in succession as a
result of cheaper imports from the...
Scientists in the US are well on the way to developing sugar beets
with improved seedling vigour, higher sugar content, and enhanced
disease resistance.