Ingredients giant Barry Callebaut has confirmed its positive midterm outlook after posting a 7.3 per cent rise in sales volumes over the first nine months of the fiscal year.
US chocolate maker, Hershey, said it is still open to international expansion and it claims acquisitions will be made easier by the fact that the global chocolate markets are still fragmented.
The German confectionery industry has expressed concern over the fluctuation in the price of its key raw ingredient, cocoa, as a result of speculation.
The drop in demand for premium products in Europe impacted sales for Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli last year and the company expects pressure on margins to continue due to higher input costs.
Nestle expects to carry on seeing growth in earnings over 2009 despite the global recession, using its strong 2008 results as a springboard for growth.
Tate & Lyle is expecting to report £11m less profit that
predicted for the year ended March 31, as a result of unfavourable
exchange rates against the US dollar, but is still expecting to
maintain levels seen in the first half.
Food giant Nestlé is being squeezed by tough international
confectionery markets, its modest overall half-year sales dragged
down by disappointing performances from its chocolate,
confectionery and biscuit categories.
The global reach of Nestlé means that it is particularly
susceptible to currency effects, and first half sales at the
confectionery-to-mineral water group were down 6.3 per cent as a
result.