Chocolate and confectionery ingredients

'We're getting fatter but more healthy': The lifestyle trends having a 'profound impact' on UK food choices

12-Dec-2018 By Niamh Michail

Clean eating and health and wellness are having a “profound impact” on the UK’s eating and drinking habits, according to new research, but consumers still want to indulge. What does this mean for food brands and retailers?

Higher Fairtrade prices are still unfair, says Cacao for Change founder

11-Dec-2018 By Niamh Michail

The higher minimum prices and premiums that Fairtrade guarantees farmers are "unfair", according to the founder of social venture Cacao for Change.

Analysts predict £7bn UK grocery spree in Christmas run-up

11-Dec-2018 By Niamh Michail

UK shoppers are set to spend £7 billion (€7.8bn) on food and drink in the next two weeks, according to analysts.

Sustainability

Barry Callebaut announces 44% of cocoa beans in its supply chain sustainably sourced

06-Dec-2018 By Anthony Myers

Swiss chocolate manufacturer says it’s on target to be 100% sustainable by 2025 after releasing its Forever Chocolate Progress report.

Sustainability

Fairtrade to increase its Minimum Price for cocoa and farmers’ Premium payments

03-Dec-2018 By Anthony Myers

Farmer organizations will be guaranteed a higher price for cocoa sales on Fairtrade terms, as part of foundation’s strategy towards enabling living incomes it said. Changes will come into effect October 2019.

RSPO suspends FGV palm oil mill and four plantations over labour rights abuses

30-Nov-2018 By Niamh Michail

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has suspended the membership of one mill and four plantations belonging to Malaysian palm oil giant FGV, which supplies manufacturers including Nestle and Mars, due to labour rights abuses.

The kids are alright: How Germany’s best-selling Fairtrade chocolate was created by children

29-Nov-2018 By Niamh Michail

When a group of children asked global chocolate firms to help finance their plant-a-tree campaign, not a single company stepped forward. This spurred the children on to create their own brand, The Change Chocolate, which is now Germany’s biggest-selling...

EXCLUSIVE

Bon Voyage - The Travelling Frenchman scales-up distribution of its single-origin chocolate

27-Nov-2018 By Jenny Eagle

The Travelling Frenchman is scaling up production and distribution of its single-origin chocolate with two launches in time for Christmas from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Venezuela.

'Patchy' roll-out of WHO advice on junk food marketing

26-Nov-2018 By Niamh Michail

European uptake of World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations on junk food marketing to children has been "patchy" in part because of intense private sector lobbying, according to a WHO report.

WATCH

Thermal tasters: Linking phantom taste, product perception and temperature

21-Nov-2018 By Katy Askew

People who are ‘thermal tasters’ report phantom taste responses when orally exposed to different temperatures. Understanding this phenomenon is important for product development in the food industry.

The end of the ENL? Nestlé pulls out of Evolved Nutrition Label; others suspend involvement

20-Nov-2018 By Niamh Michail

Nestlé is ceasing involvement in the Evolved Nutrition Label (ENL) while the four remaining companies, Unilever, Mondelez, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, have put trials for food "on hold".

Flavour beyond sweetness: Givaudan's 'counter-intuitive' approach to sugar reduction

16-Nov-2018 By Niamh Michail

Can onion really make soda taste sweeter? By identifying the molecules responsible for complex, full-bodied flavour notes, Givaudan uses “counter-intuitive” ingredients, such as onion or celeriac, to reduce sugar by up to 50% without losing flavour.

Rousselot partners with Baker Perkins on tests to accelerate gelation process of gummies

14-Nov-2018 By Jenny Eagle

Rousselot has partnered with Baker Perkins on tests to accelerate the gelation process of gummies from 24 hours to 5-10 minutes.

Spain to officially adopt NutriScore

13-Nov-2018 By Niamh Michail

Spain has become the third European country to adopt the front-of-pack NutriScore as its official nutrition label.

WCF conference, Sao Paulo

Bahia notebook: An expert’s view of cocoa production in Brazil’s Atlantic forest - video

02-Nov-2018 By Anthony Myers

Independent cocoa expert Ray Major provides an oversight of how cocoa has continued to survive against all the odds by adopting the cabruca method to manage the most valuable of crops.