Cargill has announced plans to invest €20m in two cocoa and chocolate production facilities in Germany as it looks to boost its presence domestically and in Eastern Europe.
Ethically responsible companies catering to health-conscious consumers with clean-label premium products are likeliest to win, according to a market analyst.
The flavonoid epicatechin that is present in dark chocolate could be used to treat human diseases, but studies to date have been too small and longer controlled tests are required, according to a study.
A US Federal judge has accepted Cadbury’s $1.3m (€995,863) offer to settle in class action lawsuit over its alleged part in a suspected chocolate price fixing scandal also involving Nestle, Hershey and Mars.
Any growth in the mature Belgian confectionery market lies in fair trade chocolate and chewing gum, according to an analyst at Leatherhead Food Research.
The European Commission has proposed higher maximum cadmium levels for dark chocolate as more of the heavy metal is found in chocolate with high cocoa content.
The second largest player on the Romanian chocolate market Kandia Dulce has acquired former competitor Supreme Chocolat, the third largest player, which could put pressure on market leader Kraft, according to an analyst.
The chocolate market in China is growing at faster rates than other confectionery in the country as heightened consumer wealth helps stir evolution from sugar confectionery, according to an analyst at Euromonitor.
Bosch Packaging Technology has launched what it says is the first machine capable of hermetically sealed single-wrap die fold packaging for small to medium sized chocolate bars.
Arla Foods Ingredients has announced that a dairy bulking agent for chocolate and bakery formulation that it said offers cost savings on sweet whey powder (SWP) is set for global roll-out in 2012.
Welsh premium chocolate factory Pemberton’s has had a reprieve from closure, after two potential buyers have expressed interest in acquiring the business.
Dark chocolate does not 'give you a workout', the UK National Health Service (NHS) has insisted, as it reacted to 'misleading newspaper headlines" that suggested such effects in light of a small-scale study of 25 mice.
Belgian chocolate firm Cavalier has confirmed that it is planning to launch the UK's first chocolate range containing stevia from January next year, while other launches across the EU will also follow initial listings in Belgium from November.
A Cambridge University-led systematic review published today in the British Medical Journal has concluded that polyphenol-rich chocolate consumption can reduce the risk of heart disease by a third.
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.
