Chocolate and confectionery ingredients

Mondelēz’s CoLab Tech accelerator seeks startups with ‘cutting edge technologies of the future’ focused on personalized nutrition, sustainability

24-Apr-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

Mondelēz International wants to team with early-stage startups through its CoLab Tech program to develop “groundbreaking” technology that can accelerate its Vision 2030 Growth strategy and meet consumer demand for personalized nutrition and products that...

Startup Spotlight

Nourish Ingredients expands in animal-free specialty fats with Creamilux for dairy

18-Apr-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

Nourish Ingredients, a pioneer in the emerging ‘animal-free’ speciality fat segment, is expanding into non-dairy with the debut of Creamilux – a low-inclusion lipid that recreates the rich, creamy mouthfeel, taste and emulsification properties of dairy...

Natural Products Expo West

2foods' US debut is three treats in one

18-Apr-2024 By Deniz Ataman

Japan’s 2foods sets itself apart in the American market and meets consumer demand for plant-based products with a clean label and a unique taste and texture profile with the US debut of its three-in-one dessert Gâteau Chocolate at Natural Products Expo...

Cocoa feels the bite of climate change

18-Apr-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Climate change will affect many industries, but few more than cocoa. While farmers on the ground struggle with fluctuating climatic conditions changing working practices, large companies grapple with environmental regulation.

KIND highlights taste, nourishment with new launches ranging from fruity to savory to kid-friendly

18-Apr-2024 By Deniz Ataman

KIND Snacks continues its exploration of health-forward snack bars and granola with a particular emphasis on savory and fruit ingredients in the brand’s expansive launch, which was showcased during a media event at its test kitchen in New York on April...

FDA’s ‘no questions’ letter for Oobli’s sweet protein opens doors for international expansion

15-Apr-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

FDA’s recent acknowledgement that low-sugar tea and chocolate maker Oobli’s novel sweet protein sourced from the Oubli fruit and produced via precision fermentation is Generally Recognized As Safe will grease the rails for the California-based company...

Natural Products Expo West

Mondelez: As snacking becomes more ‘purposeful' portion control becomes key

12-Apr-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

Nearly nine out of 10 consumers snack daily to fuel their busy days, carve out a mindful moment of ‘me time,’ and connect with family and friends – but according to Mondelez International’s recently released 5th State of Snacking report, what they are...

Plant-based confectionery

Cargill explores cocoa and nut-free vegan confectionery

11-Apr-2024 By Anthony Myers

Global cocoa and ingredients company Cargill has announced a new commercial partnership with Voyage Foods to produce alternatives to cocoa-based products and nut spreads without using cocoa, peanuts, and hazelnuts.

Snack maker pladis completes GODIVA integration, eyes US growth in premium chocolate

09-Apr-2024 By Ryan Daily

Global snacking company pladis announced that it has completed the integration of premium chocolate GODIVA into its portfolio of brands, as the company aims to expand its presence in the premium chocolate space with the help of a new president.

NPD Trend Tracker: From PepsiCo snacks to collagen tea

08-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

The collagen trend is on an upwards trajectory, particularly in food and drink. In our latest new product development round-up, we look at a new tea inspired by collagen (it contains collagen peptides). Elsewhere, plant-based continues to trend and UK...

Danone’s Remix platform moves yogurt beyond breakfast to snacks, appeals to younger consumers

03-Apr-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

Danone wants to entice more Americans – especially young generations – to eat more yogurt, more often and across more dayparts with the launch of its Remix platform, which offers consumers the ability to “mix in” to yogurt crunchy, chewy, sweet and salty...

Special edition: Better-for-you confectionery

The sweet truth: Embracing better-for-you confectionery for a healthier future

26-Mar-2024 By Anthony Myers

In an era of rising health consciousness, the confectionery industry finds itself at a crossroads. Traditionally associated with indulgence and guilty pleasures, confectionery products are now undergoing a transformation to meet the demands of a more...

Mondelēz’s 2024 State of Snacking: Mindful moments on the rise, Gen Z consumers go the extra mile for snacks

25-Mar-2024 By Ryan Daily

Whether it’s a moment to indulge or be mindful, consumers are turning to the snacking category for a host of reasons, as shoppers continue to swap meals out for snacks, Mondelēz International shared in its fifth annual State of Snacking report.

NPD Trend Tracker: From Easter-egg ice cream to dairy-free chocolate eggs

25-Mar-2024 By Donna Eastlake

We’re getting ready for Easter in this week’s new-product roundup. There’s everything from egg-cellent (not sorry!) mini-egg ice cream to egg-citing (still not sorry!) dairy-free chocolate eggs. There’s also a range of drinks from energy-sparking mixers...

What’s on shelf for Easter: Chocolate, of course, but also Fruit ‘n Yogurt Eggs, Almond Cake Mix and an inspirational food waste target

22-Mar-2024 By Gill Hyslop

From Cadbury Mini Eggs Chocolate Cookies to a Popcorn Easter Egg, there’s certainly a bounty available for chocoholics. But Easter isn’t all about chocolate, so we’re also shining a spotlight on better-for-you Welch’s Fruit ‘n Yogurt Eggs, a Moist Supreme...

SOTIC 2024

US consumers’ chocolate craving continues as sales hit all-time high of $48 Billion in 2023

12-Mar-2024 By Anthony Myers

Confectionery sales in the United States hit $48 billion in 2023 (up from $42.6bn in 2022 ), according to the National Confectioners Association’s 2024 State of Treating report, which was released at its Cconference in Miami this week.

Kuli Kuli Foods expands beyond moringa with new products packed with climate-smart superfoods

05-Mar-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

Functional food frontrunner Kuli Kuli Foods is moving beyond its flagship star ingredient moringa, which it helped introduce to the US over the past decade, to champion other “medicinally potent” and climate-smart “superfood” ingredients that deliver...

Mondelez North America poised for growth after ‘fixing’ its foundation to focus on value creation, not cost reduction

27-Feb-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

Mondelez has “fixed the foundations” of its North American business and is now poised to “unlock new opportunities” in the region with a four-prong plan that executives say will deliver low- to mid-single-digit revenue growth in the coming years.

Hershey’s strategy for sweet success focuses on gummies, celebrities and Reese

26-Feb-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

The Hershey Company may be best known for its eponymous chocolate bars, but the company is betting big on gummies this year with significantly increased production capacity to support innovation and a new partnership model, including a collaboration with...

Dawn Foods expands ready-to-use portfolio with new chocolate buttercream

23-Feb-2024 By Ryan Daily

Bakery ingredient supplier Dawn Foods launched a European-style chocolate buttercream that is ready to use for bakers, Allison Hornev, senior director marketing core portfolio
& innovation, told FoodNavigator-USA.

Protecting children from deceptive food advertising: The scope of NY’s S213-B bill

21-Feb-2024 By Deniz Ataman

Recently proposed legislation in New York seeks to expand the state’s deceptive food advertising regulations to include safeguarding children who may be susceptible to excessive consumption of unhealthy goods, but lawyers with the firm Venable argue the...

Startup Spotlight

Rotten’s ‘gross-out’ culture branding expands appeal of better-for-you candy to consumers often overlooked by health brands

15-Feb-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

Better-for-you confection newcomer Rotten’s early distribution gains since it launched in September underscores an unmet consumer desire for candy that cuts back on sugar and artificial ingredients, but not the fun.

Could low-sugar chocolate actually taste better?

15-Feb-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Less is apparently more when it comes to the amount of sugar used in the creation of the perfect chocolate bar. So will manufacturers reduce the amount of sugar they use in the making of this sweet treat and will consumers welcome the change?

Valentine's Day candy trends: Chocolate remains popular, better-for-you options on the rise

14-Feb-2024 By Ryan Daily

This Valentine's Day, consumers are predicted to spend a record amount on sweet treats from chocolates to gummy candies, as the confectionery industry navigates supply-chain challenges and increasing demands for better-for-you indulgences.

Commodities

Eye-watering cocoa prices put a damper on Valentine’s Day chocolate

14-Feb-2024 By Anthony Myers

Love may be in the air this Valentine's Day – but so is the eye-watering price of cocoa on the market, making the cost of the key ingredient in chocolate more expensive than ever, according to analysts.

Justin’s new Dark Chocolate Candy Pieces emphasize ethically sourced, natural ingredients

13-Feb-2024 By Deniz Ataman

Justin’s launch of its Dark Chocolate Candy Pieces continues the brand’s emphasis on offering clean confectionery ingredients that are USDA-certified organic, use Rainforest Alliance cocoa and are Non-GMO Project Verified, aligning with the brand’s corporate...

Hershey explores cost-savings, price hikes & packaging changes to offset high cocoa, sugar costs

09-Feb-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

Hershey is launching a multi-year cost-savings strategy that will lean heavily on enhanced automation and a more efficient operating model, which could result in job cuts, to help offset historically high cocoa prices and elevated sugar costs that are...

Startup Spotlight

Harken Sweets reimagines ‘what a candy bar can be using the power of date fruit’

01-Feb-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

The founder of startup Harken Sweets, which launched earlier this month, wants to “nutritionally overhaul” the candy bar category by using “the power of the date fruit,” like how she helped Caulipower reinvigorate the pizza category with the “power of...

Voyage Foods’ cocoa-free chocolate sidesteps sustainability, pricing and supply chain challenges of conventional counterpart, life cycle analysis reveals

25-Jan-2024 By Elizabeth Crawford

Food-tech startup Voyage Foods’ clean-label cocoa-free chocolate offers manufacturers a one-to-one replacement for traditional chocolate that it says doesn’t compromise taste or texture but, according to a new life cycle analysis, bypasses many of the...

Mentorship

NCA announces its 2024 Future Leaders class

24-Jan-2024 By Anthony Myers

The National Confectioners Association (NCA) has announced the eight confectionery industry professionals selected for its 2024 Future Leadership Programme.

Are you ready to dive into Japan? Ichigo is on a mission to deliver a little piece of culture through snacks

23-Jan-2024 By Gill Hyslop

‘Ichigo ichiya’ is a Buddhist saying that describes a cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment. In other words, cherish every moment – which is exactly what the specially curated snack boxes of Ichigo’s TokyoTreat and Sakuraco...

Mars purchases two US facilities, expands its snack portfolio

19-Jan-2024 By Deniz Ataman

Global snack maker Mars expands its snack production with the purchase of a new $237m baking facility for Nature’s Bakery in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a Chicago-based Global Research and Development Hub that will focus on chocolate and nuts testing and...

HI-CHEW turns to DTC, pop-up experiences to engage Gen-Z consumers

18-Jan-2024 By Ryan Daily

Japanese candy brand HI-CHEW launched a direct-to-consumer (DTC) website as part of a broader strategy to appeal to Gen Z consumers, Joanne Hsu, senior brand marketing manager at Morinaga America, told FoodNavigator-USA.

Oobli expands sweet protein chocolate line, taps into permissible indulgence trend

03-Jan-2024 By Ryan Daily

Biotech company Oobli is expanding its confections portfolio with the release of a line of milk chocolate bars, demonstrating sweet proteins' potential for chocolate applications, company CEO Ali Wing told FoodNavigator-USA.

The next generation of confectionery? Mediterranean cocoa-free chocolate addresses the darker side of production

03-Jan-2024 By Natasha Spencer-Joilliffe

Spurred on by a drive to pursue positive impact and leave the corporate world, four founders came together to launch their Mediterranean cacao-free chocolate brand.

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Endangered Species Chocolate explores what it means to 'do good, better'

18-Dec-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

As an early adopter of the “triple bottom line” framework, the premium confection company Endangered Species Chocolate has been “doing well by doing good” for 30 years by responsibly sourcing ingredients, supporting fair trade, prioritizing sustainability...

WNWN completes Mondelēz innovation program with plans to expand its chocolate-free line

11-Dec-2023 By Deniz Ataman

WNWN Food Labs’ recent completion in Mondelēz International, Inc.’s CoLab Tech accelerator is “just the beginning” for the cocoa-free brand, Johnny Drain, co-founder, WNWN, told FoodNavigator-USA.

Sustainability - special report

Chocolate industry ‘needs to put its money where its mouth is’ on sustainability, report claims

11-Dec-2023 By Anthony Myers

Large chocolate and cocoa companies, including multinationals including Mars, Ferrero, Mondelēz, Hershey, Nestlé, and traders like Barry Callebaut and Cargill, are not paying prices that allow cocoa farmers to earn a living. This is the conclusion of...

How newstalgia blends comfort and novelty in the snack category

29-Nov-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Consumers still crave familiar flavors and experiences, as they did during the pandemic, but they also are open to new innovations and technologies -- leading to an emerging trend of 'newstalgia,' Kevin Ryan, CEO, Malachite Strategy and Research,...

Innovations in snacking

KIND embraces ‘AND’ philosophy for snacking innovation to balance health, taste, convenience & sustainability

29-Nov-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Health and wellness remain top priorities for snackers, but as peak pandemic continues to recede, indulgence is becoming more important and as such consumers are less willing to sacrifice taste for functional benefit, according to Emily Strobel, VP, growth...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Snacking increases but innovation needed for long-term growth

29-Nov-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Snacking in the US continues to climb, according to data from Circana, despite predictions that a surge in the frequency and sales of snacks during the pandemic was unsustainable and would revert to pre-COVID levels as consumers returned to in-person...

Environment

Mars reuses old iconic adverts to raise consumer awareness of climate action

29-Nov-2023 By Anthony Myers

Mars Incorporated has launched a first-of-its-kind digital and out-of-home campaign that ‘reuses’ fan-favourite advertisements, giving them a second life and claiming the new messages bring hope and progress around climate action.

Fetch gamifies shopping experience with app, bites into chocolate sales

27-Nov-2023 By Ryan Daily

Fetch is gamifying the shopping experience and data collection with a reward-based app that gathers information about how consumers are buying products in specific categories, like chocolate, company VP of Partner Development Anne Hill told FoodNavigator-USA....

Limiting front-of-pack nutrition labeling to added sugar, saturated fat & sodium could skew potential health impact, stakeholders tell FDA

27-Nov-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Front of package nutrition labeling intended to help consumers select healthier foods and beverages by potentially calling out the amount of added sugar and other nutrients of interest could unintentionally expose children to higher levels of non-nutritive...

Branded still better? Mondelez plays down private label threat citing ‘strong’ consumer confidence in Asia and Middle East

15-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

Snacking giant Mondelez has highlighted continued strong demand for its snack brands such as Oreo and Cadbury in emerging markets as key to its Q3 profitability, playing down threats from cheaper supermarket private label products.

‘Our goal is to see a bigger shift across our industry’: Unilever bids to solve ice cream's last-mile problem by sharing reformulation patents

13-Nov-2023 By Teodora Lyubomirova

The CPG giant is sharing 12 reformulation patents with the wider ice cream manufacturing industry as it looks to lead the way in reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions from the last mile of the supply chain.

Futureproofing the Food System

Watch this week: FoodNavigator-USA’s digital summit explores trends in food-tech, food as medicine and the circular economy

13-Nov-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

This week, join FoodNavigator-USA and stakeholders across the supply chain, including Eat Just, The Hartman Group, Oishii, NotCo, Instacart, NIQ, Consumer Brands Association, FMI – The Food Industry Association, Cargill and more for our three-day Futureproofing...

Danone, Keurig Dr Pepper tell FDA that sugar reduction requires a different playbook from sodium reduction

09-Nov-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Research showing consumer preferences for sweetness intensity may not be as easy to reduce as their preferences for sodium suggests a “stealth health” approach of slowly lowering added sugar across the food supply may not be an effective strategy for...

What inflation, a year of big M&A deals will mean for the bakery market in 2024

01-Nov-2023 By Ryan Daily

The bakery market is remaining resilient in the face of continued market pressures, as merger and acquisition (M&A) activity remains strong in 2023, Craig Gibson, managing director at TM Capital, shared during an International Dairy Deli Bakery Association...

National Association for Convenience Stores

How brands and c-stores can drive sales and in-store experiences through promotions

25-Oct-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Convenience stores are evolving into experiential destinations driven by consumers’ diverse usage occasions while brands have an opportunity to bundle their top sellers with retailers’ prepared foods, driving relevance for consumers, executives at Mars...