Chocolate and confectionery ingredients

Special edition: Beyond 2020 - The future of sustainable cocoa

Hot chocolate: How will industry protect its key commodity from climate change?

28-Apr-2015 By Oliver Nieburg

Rising temperatures could seriously change where cocoa is grown in the next half-century and global output could be threatened if the chocolate industry does nothing to protect its key crop.

Ethical foods make consumers feel morally superior - and food taste better

27-Apr-2015 By Niamh Michail

The feeling of moral satisfaction that consumers get from eating ethical food change their taste experience for the better - and means they are willing to pay more, according to a European survey.

Nut enough: Ferrero goes to Serbia for more hazelnuts

27-Apr-2015 By Vladimir Pekic

Italy’s confectionery major Ferrero has purchased almost 700 hectares of fertile agricultural land controlled by Serbian agricultural company Aleksa Santic for €7.95m ($8.64m).

Tesco reports historic €8.9bn loss but may be able to move on, says analyst

22-Apr-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

UK retail giant Tesco has reported a staggering annual loss of £6.4 billion (€8.9bn), the worst in its 96-year history.

Front-of-pack labels are equally effective - but none works alone

21-Apr-2015 By Niamh Michail

Front-of-pack labelling can be useful but health policy-makers are naïve if they think that this alone will result in healthier food choices, say researchers - environment, motivation and psychology must be actively influenced too.

Early Easter sweetens sales for Nestlé

17-Apr-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

Nestlé has reported a better than expected sales jump of 4.4% with sales totalling CHF 20.9bn (€20.25bn), boosted by sales of bottled water and chocolate.

Nestle selling Davigel to push higher value growth, says analyst

15-Apr-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

Nestlé could net up to €300m from the sale of Davigel, as the world’s biggest food company continues to refocus its business activities in to higher value areas, an industry analyst has said.

Junk food ads and brand placement: Joint use increases effect on children

14-Apr-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

The combined use of TV brand placements with advertising could increase the effect on children's brand awareness and behaviour towards junk food, a new study has said.

Eco-friendly foods: Can environmental messages be better targeted to consumers?

10-Apr-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

Research outlining why consumers support environmental food policies could help identify how messages should be targeted to different groups.

Slump in sugar prices driving down overall food prices: FAO

07-Apr-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

A sharp drop in sugar prices is the main factor behind a fall in overall global food prices, says the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Improving foods works better than educating consumers, says expert

03-Apr-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

Reformulating foods to be healthier without telling consumers is a brilliant health policy, says Professor Graham MacGregor.

Oxfam: World’s biggest food companies must ‘walk the talk’ on sustainability

31-Mar-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Eight of the 10 biggest multinational food companies have improved their food security and sustainability policies over the past year – but all must do more to put their commitments into practice, says Oxfam’s latest Behind the Brands report.

Sleep easy and avoid logistical nightmares: Breaking into export markets for smaller confectioners

30-Mar-2015 By Oliver Nieburg

Small-to-medium sized confectioners making their first moves into export markets must be clued up on local regulations, consider temperate changes and pick distributors carefully to avoid mishaps, says UK firm Lauden Chocolate.

Heinz Kraft merger: Synergies and cost cutting

26-Mar-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

The super-merger of Heinz and Kraft is less about synergies and more about cutting costs, analysts have said.

Xylitol’s efficacy in fighting tooth decay ‘unproven’

26-Mar-2015 By Niamh Michail

There is little evidence to prove natural sweetener xylitol prevents tooth decay in children and adults despite an EFSA-backed health claim, says a Cochrane review.

Study: UK dietary food guidelines could cut heart attack risk

26-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

Following the UK dietary guidelines could reduce the risk of heart attacks in middle-aged and older men and women by up to 30%=, say researchers.

Be creative to keep reformulation costs down, says analyst

24-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

Manufacturers need to be innovative and clever if costs to reformulate food products are to be kept low, says Cindy Beeren at Leatherhead Food Research.

NGO accuses EU company of illegal African land grabs

23-Mar-2015 By Niamh Michail

European food companies are illegally grabbing land from smallhold farmers in Africa as part of the G8 New Alliance project, says an Action Aid report published this month.

Study rules out aspartame sensitivity

23-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

A double-blind study has found no evidence of aspartame sensitivity, reported by half of its participants.

How retailers are working with suppliers to fight food waste

20-Mar-2015 By Fintan Hastings, external affairs adviser, British Retail Consortium

The close relationship between supply chain partners means they are well-placed to help each other tackle food waste, says Fintan Hastings, external affairs adviser at the British Retail Consortium.

Fairtrade’s revised standard is ‘creative’ says industry

19-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

The inclusion of new voluntary best practices in the organisation’s revised trader standard is an “interesting” element, said a representative at Voice Network.

UK budget largely positive, says food and drink industry

19-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

The drop in corporation tax, promise of increased investment funding and support for British farmers in the 2015 UK budget were largely supported by British food and drink manufacturers.

Last year was a breakthrough year for stevia, says PureCircle

17-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

Market demand for stevia last year increased PureCircle’s half-year sales by 24%, the company has said.

Hedonism influences perception of food quality, says report

17-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

A food product’s sensorial characteristics and its place of production determine the perception of its quality for Italian consumers, a study has found.

DNA sprays and added bacteria to fight food fraud

17-Mar-2015 By Niamh Michail

Spray-on DNA or added bacteria may be the future of the fight against food fraud - but analysts warn that consumers could react against more additives being used to guarantee a product’s authenticity or naturalness

Navigate or search -- how do consumers shop for groceries online?

16-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

Online grocery shoppers tend to prefer navigating to product pages rather than searching for specific products, according to a study funded by the European Research Council.

Empowering women in agriculture is good for business

13-Mar-2015 By Niamh Michail

Empowering women in small-hold agriculture is essential to boosting productivity, creating new product launches and generating business - and companies are starting to realise this, says a Fairtrade Foundation report.

Reduce marketing of sugar-rich products, says WHO

12-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

The World Health Organisation has said that companies need to reduce the marketing of sugar-rich products if consumers are to slash their intake to 10% of daily calories.

The end of stevia’s natural reign – or the beginning of a new one?

11-Mar-2015 By Niamh Michail

By producing stevia through fermentation and solvent-based extraction the industry risks losing its most promising natural sweetener - but this may create a new market for new niche stevia products, say analysts.

How strong is the evidence behind WHO’s sugars advice?

10-Mar-2015 By Joyeeta Basu

The food industry has criticised the WHO’s recommendation to reduce the intake of added sugar for being backed by ‘moderate’ and ‘very low quality’ evidence.

IQ Chocolate: What’s essential to ensure a start-up survives – and thrives?

10-Mar-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Four years ago two Scottish women with little experience of the food industry started developing a gourmet chocolate brand. Now they are moving into export markets – so what were the ingredients of success?

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