Chocolate and confectionery ingredients

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...

Financial results

Nestlé reports double-digit sales growth in confectionery brands

19-Oct-2023 By Anthony Myers

In a market statement relating to its nine-month sales for 2023, Nestlé said growth was broad-based across most geographies and categories.

National Association for Convenience Stores

Blending convenience, novelty and flavors at NACS’ Cool New Products snack showcase

18-Oct-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Never-before-seen alternative snacks, energy drinks and frozen packaged snacks dubuted at the National Association for Convenience Stores’ Cool New Products expo Oct. 3-6 in Atlanta, Ga.

Natural Products Expo East

Chocxo innovates at the intersection of indulgence and lower sugar to help consumers balance physical, mental wellness goals

28-Sep-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Sugar has emerged as public enemy No. 1 among consumers and FDA is looking for sugar reduction strategies at the behest of the White House – and yet, most Americans still want moments of indulgence with many people justifying them as much-needed support...

Nestlé and Cargill partner to turn cocoa shells into low carbon fertiliser

11-Sep-2023 By Flora Southey

The project will see Cargill supply cocoa shells to CCm Technologies, who in turn will manufacture fertiliser for two farms supplying Nestlé UK & Ireland.

JM Smucker accelerates focus on convenience, volume gains with acquisition of Hostess Brands

11-Sep-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

With the acquisition of iconic snack cake maker Hostess Brands announced this morning, JM Smucker joins a growing list of packaged food companies padding their portfolios through acquisitions after several rounds of price hikes across categories begin...

Belliwelli’s ‘goal is to make gut health mainstream,’ expands nationally in Target locations

07-Sep-2023 By Deniz Ataman

On Sept. 17, the gut-friendly snack bar brand BelliWelli will be available in 1,554 Target locations nationwide -- adding to the more than 1,000 new doors the brand expanded into in the past year, Katie Wilson, CEO, Belliwelli told FoodNavigator-USA.

Mondelez CEO worries how much higher prices can go before consumers say ‘no’

07-Sep-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

As snack giant Mondelez faces yet another round of price increases in 2024, CEO Dirk Van de Put says he wonders how much consumers can absorb and what the company needs to do to maintain volume and market share without compromising margins and profitability.

Regulation

High sugar tariffs in the EU and US sugar programme causing concern for confectionery companies

31-Aug-2023 By Anthony Myers

The Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI) has called for the European Union to reform high external sugar tariffs to keep medium-sized companies competitive – while candy makers in the US grapple with US agricultural policy.

Regulation

Organic cocoa supplier has digital tools to help companies comply with EU deforestation laws

21-Aug-2023 By Anthony Myers

Tradin Organic, a Netherlands-based certified organic food ingredients supplier for the food sector, claims it can help chocolate manufacturers, brands and retailers navigate the new EU laws on deforestation by sharing access with its clients to all data...

Kellogg’s Kellanova will focus on innovation, smaller packs & enhanced marketing to drive snack sales

15-Aug-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

On track to separate from Kellogg Co. in the fourth quarter, Kellanova will position itself as a snacks-led powerhouse and improved company with “a growth mindset, a refreshed strategy and more ambitious financial expectations,” CEO Steve Cahillane said...

Mondelez enjoys volume gains despite price hikes thanks to innovation, marketing

28-Jul-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Confection and snack maker Mondelez’s volumes and market share inched up alongside strong sales in the second quarter despite implementing price hikes similar to competitors that report flat units in the face of inflation.

Hershey leans into Halloween, increased capacity to overcome challenges in second quarter

28-Jul-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

While recent price hikes may be reinforcing sales of Hershey’s confections and snacks, they are taking a toll on how much consumers buy – a dynamic compounded by inventory constraints and promotional shifts that executives optimistically project will...

Free Webinar: Raising the Snack Bar - Exploring Growth Drivers, Innovations and Consumer Cravings

27-Jul-2023 By Deniz Ataman

What does it take to stand out in the saturated snack bar crowd? FoodNavigator-USA’s recent webinar, Raising the Snack Bar: Exploring Growth Drivers, Innovations and Consumer Cravings featured an expert panel on the various considerations brands must...

Upcoming webinar: How snack bar brands can carve out a space in a crowded market

19-Jul-2023 By Deniz Ataman

FoodNavigator-USA will present its free editorial webinar, Raising the Snack Bar: Exploring Growth Drivers, Innovations and Consumer Cravings on July 26 at 11:30 AM CT. The webinar will feature a panel of snack bar experts who will explore how key differentiators...

US bakers bank on ‘strength in numbers’ to tackle priorities with Capitol Hill

13-Jul-2023 By Gill Hyslop

The American Bakers Association (ABA) is partnering with the American Society of Baking (ASB) and Retail Bakers of America (RBA) to give bakers an even stronger voice with US Congress.

IFT FIRST 2023: AAK, Bartek Ingredients, Cargill, Fruit d’Or preview indulgent innovations

12-Jul-2023 By Ryan Daily

At IFT FIRST this month, food and beverage ingredient companies from across the supply chain will gather to demonstrate their latest innovations in indulgent tastes, as CPG brands look for product solutions to meet the consumer demand for sweet treats...

Sustainabilty

Love Cocoa & H!P Chocolate secure B Corp Certification

10-Jul-2023 By Anthony Myers

London-based sustainable chocolate brand Love Cocoa’s mission to drive positive change within the chocolate industry has received an added boost after recognition as a certified B Corporation, achieving an overall B Impact Score of 88.3.

Commodities

Cocoa prices hit 26-year high, as soft commodities start to fall

05-Jul-2023 By Anthony Myers

Recent bad weather in West Africa has threatened cocoa production resulting in record-high prices for the commodity on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.

Mondelēz “still committed” to DTC, focuses on basics to drive e-commerce strategy

20-Jun-2023 By Ryan Daily

Snack maker Mondelēz is embracing in-store and digital shopping experiences, as the company is committed to the direct-to-consumer (DTC) model for the long haul, company director of global eCommerce Abhishek Ahluwalia told FoodNavigator-USA in an interview...

Seasonal

American consumers celebrate National Candy Month with less sugar

15-Jun-2023 By Anthony Myers

Halfway through the National Confectioners Association’s National Candy Month campaign and new data reveals 47% of consumers are seeking out ‘healthy’ candy options to lower their sugar intake.

Sweets & Snacks Expo

Ferrero North America builds US manufacturing facility, expanding chocolate production for the first time outside of Europe

06-Jun-2023 By Deniz Ataman

The company’s manufacturing plant in Bloomington, Ill.n will feature a chocolate processing facility and a Kinder Bueno production line. The plant is expected to strengthen the company’s presence in the US, while showcasing its diverse portfolio, Hugh...

Sweets & Snacks Expo

Study reveals consumer preference for softer gummies over traditional gelatin-based varieties, says Cargill

05-Jun-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Cargill's consumer preference study revealed that despite the widespread popularity of gelatin-based gummies, participants overwhelmingly favored a softer gummy texture made from alternative ingredients like pectin or tapioca.

Sweets & Snacks Expo

Snack marketing for multicultural consumers

02-Jun-2023 By Deniz Ataman

As brands seek cultural fluency to develop products for different demographics, Kellogg’s presentation during the Sweets & Snacks Expo explored the various nuances of the multicultural and generational differences of the American snack consumer, specifically...

Sweets & Snacks Expo

How retailers can enhance impulse purchases in-store and online

31-May-2023 By Deniz Ataman

While e-commerce impulse buys are evolving, in-store purchases are still critical in capturing snack and candy consumers—with the self-checkout lane offering tremendous potential growth for both brands and retailers, Kathy Risch, senior vice president,...