Chocolate and confectionery ingredients

BeyondBrands enters sugar-free chocolate category with launch of GoodSam Foods

13-Jan-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

GoodSam Foods, a new brand of no-sugar-added, direct-trade chocolate launched by BeyondBrands, has entered the sugar-free chocolate confectionery category with products sweetened with emerging sweetener allulose.

Partake attracts $4.8m investment and announces plans to enter 2,700+ stores in Q1 2021

08-Jan-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Allergy-friendly food company Partake has completed a $4.8m Series A funding round backed by a diverse and star-powered lineup of investors from private equity investment firm CircleUp Growth Partners to Rihanna and Seattle Seahawks' Bobby Wagner.

Mondelēz acquires Hu Products: 'There's significant opportunity to take Hu to the next level'

05-Jan-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Mondelēz International has acquired full ownership of Hu (pronounced ‘hue’ as in ‘human’) Products, a well-being snack company best known for its premium vegan chocolate bars.

General Mills forecasts increased at-home eating to be 'new normal' post-pandemic

18-Dec-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

General Mills net sales increased 7% to $4.7bn for Q2 2021 as the company continued to benefit from elevated at-home demand for its core brands within its meals & baking and cereal segments, which grew net sales by 9% for the quarter.

Consumers will seek convenience, comfort, health from food in 2021 as they await ‘return to normalcy’

17-Dec-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Encouraged by the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine administered in the US this week, many Americans are eager for a return to normalcy in the new year, but they also recognize widespread inoculation and economic recovery will be slow and so they...

Study: Consumers see craft chocolate as ‘novel and exciting’

07-Dec-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Premium packaging and label design, unique brand backstories, and products that evoke novelty and excitement are highly-sought-after product attributes for craft chocolate consumers, according to research conducted by food scientists in Penn State’s College...

What's the difference between plant-based and vegan? Foodchain ID unveils new certification schemes

07-Dec-2020 By Elaine Watson

While the terms 'plant-based' and 'vegan' might appear to be interchangeable (they both exclude animal products), consumers do not view them in quite the same way, claims Foodchain ID, which has just launched separate 'vegan,'...

Mondelēz focuses on defending market share gains heading into 2021, 'We want to keep on reinforcing our core,' says CEO

04-Dec-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Mondelēz International is pouring more investment into marketing and media efforts for its legacy brands with a focus on delivering more value to consumers as the company vies to maintain, and possibly gain, further market share in snacking categories...

Comfort foods take center plate in Grubhub’s 2020 ‘Year in Food’ report

03-Dec-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Analyzing user behavior for its more than 30 million active diners this year, online and mobile-food ordering platform Grubhub saw surging orders for comfort foods and a rise of ready-to-drink coffee orders.

Fairtrade

Way to Go! Lidl launches exclusive Fairtrade chocolate bars in US stores

02-Dec-2020 By Anthony Myers

European discount supermarket Lidl has announced a new deal with Fairtrade America to offer US customers a unique private label chocolate bar that contributes to a living income for cocoa farmers.

Flavor trends for 2021: fresh from the garden, breakfast all day, chicken & home baked goods

19-Nov-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Consumers’ desire for comforting, nostalgic and indulgent foods and beverages as a way to cope with pressures from the pandemic, election and economic hardship in 2020 is about to clash with more austere preferences more typical of each new year, including...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Mondelēz finds snacking offers a ‘lifeline,’ antidote to loneliness during COVID

16-Nov-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

While snacking was on the rise long before the coronavirus outbreak, new research from Mondelēz International shows the pandemic has turbo-charged the trend – spurring more people to snack more often, but for entirely different reasons than they did before...

Tracking COVID-19 cases by zip code allowed Hershey to target inventory, marketing to gain share, sales

10-Nov-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Sales of The Hershey Co.’s iconic chocolates and confections significantly outpaced the category during the company’s third-quarter thanks to targeted, nimble marketing that positioned the sweets at the center of socially distant and much needed get-togethers...

Researchers call for crackdown on ‘kid influencers’ promoting unhealthy food, beverages on YouTube

27-Oct-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

After discovering a “staggering level of exposure” of fast food, candy, soda and other unhealthy branded foods and beverages on YouTube videos featuring and targeting young children, researchers from New York University are calling on the Federal Trade...

Blue Stripes blends whimsy, functional health & sustainability to start a ‘whole cacao revolution’

20-Oct-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Cacao currently may be most prized by manufacturers and mainstream consumers for its beans to make chocolate, cocoa and cocoa butter, but the fruit and shell surrounding the bean also are packed with nutrients and potential, which famed chocolatier Oded...