February 29, 2008 - In what would best be named "the case of the missing chocolate spread" Israeli police are searching for a band of
crooks who made off with nearly 100 tons of chocolate spread. The owner of the factory in Haifa values the loot at near $415,000 and
estimates it would have taken five trucks to drive off with it all. If you are in Northeastern Ohio during the beginning of May you may want to
take a look at the Northeastern Ohio Chocolate Festival which will run May 8, 10 and 11, 2008. The event will be held at The Cleveland
Heights Community Center Pavilion, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Of special note the first ever National Fudge Brownie Eating Championship,
sanctioned by The Association of Independent Competitive Eaters, will be one of the events held in conjunction with the Festival. Out of
Hong Kong are some interesting photos of chocolate ornaments that were on display to help celebrate the opening of a new chocolate
store in Hong Kong. San Francisco's Pier 17 will be home to a new chocolate factory later this spring. The venture TCHO is co - founded by
Louis Rossetto, co-founder of Wired Magazine and Timothy Childs aformer space shuttle technologist. You can "beta test" the chocolate by
ordering a bar from their website www.tcho.com. The Advertising Standards Authority in The United Kingdom has responded to
complaints that a recent Nutella advertisement carries misleading information. The Authority rejected the commercials claim that Nutella
was part of a balanced breakfast because the spread is high in fat and sugar. Ferrero UK has been ordered to drop the ad in the future.
February 28, 2008 - The Adam Smith Institute in the United Kingdom has issued a report that comes down hard on fairtrade. The reports
author claims that fairtrade traps farmers in a cycle of poverty by guaranteeing them a set price which doesn't encourage them to improve
the quality of their crops. Some of the arguments seem specious. The author claims that farmers might hold back their better quality crops
if they can get more in the marketplace than sell them at the agreed upon freetrade price. It would seem to us that if the farmer is now in a
position where he has multiple options to sell his crop he can only come out ahead. The author also makes the case that farmers are
trapped in poverty because of restricted trade policies which may or may not be true but we have been hearing this for years. In the
meanwhile if fairtrade arrangements are putting more money in the hands of farmers who are struggling daily with poverty we support
them. Hershey Co. has announced that Edward Kelly has resigned from the companies board. Mr. Kelly was named to the board three
months ago in a shake up after the company had not done as well as expected in 2007.
February 27, 2008 - Cadbury Schweppes announced a 2.1% drop in operating profit for the year, 2007. Total sales rose 6.6% but
softness in the companies beverage business combined with a weak US dollar and rising costs in milk and cocoa have left the company
with a declining profit situation. The company also took a hit of close to $60,000,000 when Accelerade a new sports drink didn't fare well. A
new report puts chocolate at the top of what is being referred to as the mood foods category. As companies look to supply consumer
demand for products that stimulate neurotransmitters. Chocolate is loaded with neurotransmitters but the report which is geared to the
European market points out that chocolate will have to eventually live up to its proponents claims or it will become a passing fad in this
market. Barry Callebaut has released the reults of a new study that was done in the USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium
and Switzerland. The study found that 27% of consumers in these countries purchase chocolate for its ability to boost a feeling of well -
being. The study also found 21% of consumers are interested in chocolate that has added functional ingredients. What could be sweeter
than this. Project Runway's episode 6 had clothing based on Hershey products. The actual designs are up for auction on Project
Runway's website. The money raised will be donated to The Young Survival Coalition. Vosges Haut - Chocolat has introduced a new
product Mini Mo's Bacon Bar . The bar is 41% cocoa and applewood smoked bacon. We've reported in the past on experiments with bacon
and chocolate mixing but given Vosges attention to detail and high quality we have a feeling this will turn out to be the best we've yet seen.
The market for chocolate in India has been expanding in recent years and the increased demand has led to Indian cocoa producers to
announce that they will increase production 60% over the next four years. The country is currently producing 10,000 tons per year and this
should bring local production to 16,000 tons a year. Current demand is thought to be somewhere in the 18,000 tons per year range. In the
United Kingdom Tate & Lyle has announced they will be converting all of their cane sugar to fairtrade by the end of next year. This will be the
largest switchover to fairtrade in the history of the United Kingdom. The firm will be using 70,000 tons of sugar, raised in Belize, a year. This
is seven times the current size of the British fairtrade sugar market.
February 21, 2008 - Fauchon has announced that as of February 29th they will be further scaling back their operations in the United
States. Their website will cease operation as of that date and their products will only be available in a handful of places here. It was only a
few years ago that fauchon had three shops here in Manhattan alone. You will still be able to purchase Fauchon products at the
Bridgemarket Food Emporium. We've all seen the reports on the shrinking honey bee population here in the United States. The obvious
conclusion was the price of honey was going to go up. Another problem has cropped up, pardon the pun. Over 130 different crops are at
risk and of course companies that use these plants as ingredients are either facing or soon will face supply difficulties. Haagen-Dazs has
given $250,000 towards research into this matter and has launched a 'HD loves HB' campaign and is sourcing money for research through
a new flavor Vanilla Honey Bee. We here at eChocolateNYC think this is great and applaud Haagen-Daz in this effort. English chocolate
company Thorntons has announced their fifth straight quarter of growth. Operating profit was also up 13% for the same period. It was just a
few years ago that Thorntons was struggling and brought in anew management team to revive their fortunes. Mars UK has launched a
Facebook site that will allow users to order candy bars online. Users of the site will be able to give Mars products as gifts by paying by
Paypal and then the recipient of the candy bar will receive a voucher that can be used at 12,500 participating PayPoint stores in the UK to
pick up the gift. With Easter just around the corner Cadbury Schweppes has announced a plan to cut the amount of packaging on their
chocolate Easter eggs. The foil wrapped eggs will come in cardboard molded so the eggs will be easy to display in the shop but will have
no further packaging. Cadbury had previously announced they were pursuing a bold policy to lower the firms carbon footprint and this is just
one more step in that direction. Alfred Ritter has announced that production of their bars will be shifted from Russia back to Germany. The
company had spent $20 million in a deal with the Russian company Odintsovo Confectionery in 2003. Ritter then found that to achieve the
same uniform taste they had to import Alpine milk from Germany which of course defeated the purpose of manufacturing the chocolate in
Russia in the first place. M & M's has a guide to Academy Award watching and holding your own chocolate themed party for the event. You
can take a look at it here. M & M's has also announced their newest addition. Wildly Cherry which are red, cherry flavored M & M's. They are
a limited edition release but so were the Dark Chocolate M & M's which seem to be always available.
February 18, 2008 - The Health Care for the Homeless fundraiser, the 17th Annual Chocolate Affair, was held and raised $140,000 this
year. Almost 60 food industry professionals mostly from the Baltimore area, set up stations where you could sample everything from
chocolate risotto to absinthe-infused chocolate truffles. Jael and Dan Rattigan opened the French Broad Chocolate Lounge on Feb. 2 on
South Lexington Avenue, Asheville, North Carolina. They had been making their own chocolate truffles, French Broad Luscious Chocolates,
and now have their own retail establishment where they also sell pastry and other chocolate goods. Palm Springs, California held its
Chocolate Lovers luncheon once again. The event started in 1999 and this year was held at the Thunderbird Country Club. It started with a
light lunch of "real food" and then the 300 or so assembled guests proceeded to work their way through a 40 foot display of chocolate
treats. The event raises money to provide scholarships for women who want to enter the food industry. In Hershey, Pennsylvania work is
progressing on the new Hershey Museum. The 23.5 million dollar project will tell more about Milton Hershey and hopes to draw 240,000
visitors a year. Boston has a neat tour. For $75 you can take a trolley and sample some of Boston's best chocolate. Top of the Hub
restaurant is one destination. Then its off to Omni Parker House Hotel birthplace of Boston Creme Pie. The final stop is the Langham Hotel
for a massive chocolate buffet.
February 17, 2008 - The Huntington Mall in Huntington, West Virginia will be the home of the first Chocolate Celebration by Faith in Action
of the River Cities. The event will be held on Saturday, March 15th between 10 am - 2 pm. Shugar Shack Chocolatier on W. Adams Street in
Jacksonville, Florida was a busy place the day before Valentine's Day. Shop owner Suzanne Marino hand dipped 2,500 long stem
strawberries in her own chocolate. Marialisa Calta has a neat little article posted online with a brief history of Valentine's Day stretching
back from the times of ancient Rome to today. See’s Candies is recalling 16-ounce bags of its Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips. The bags
were mislabeled as milk free whereas they contain traces of milk which may cause problems for those with allergies. In Japan instead of
Valentine's day department stores hold a chocolate month. The month long festival is capped off by February 14th chocolate giving with a
twist. In Japan the women give the chocolate to men. This started in the 1970s and over time women have started to purchase chocolate
for themselves and their female friends.
February 16, 2008 - In The United Kingdom Nestle Rowntree has reintroduced the Blue Smartie. Blue was pulled from the Smartie
Universe and replaced with white two years ago when the coloring in the Blue Smarties was linked to hyperactivity in children. The new blue
coloring is made from a seaweed extract and is all natural. While the rest of the world was busy celebrating Valentine's Day Thursday in
Ghana they were busy celebrating the Second Annual National Chocolate Day. Valentine's Day itself is popular in Ghana and morphing it
into Chocolate Day helps to bring attention to one of the countries largest industries.
February 15, 2008 - The German based company Beneo Palatinit has done some research into the willingness of consumers to purchase
sugar free confections and has come to the conclusion that the market will continue to grow. Other studies in Europe seem to show a trend
where 30% or so of consumers are looking for ways to avoid sugar. As the market grows companies keep improving their product lines to
appeal to interested consumers and the increased quantity of choices encourages even more consumers. Mars, Nestle, Kraft and Ritter
have all confirmed that they are the subject of an investigation of price fixing by The Federal Cartel Office in Germany. All of the companies
have had to turn over records to the Office. With a similar investigation occurring in Canada that has targeted Mars and Nestle as well as
Hershey there may be more investigations on the way. There is an interesting article on Nutringredients.com exploring the confusion over
Fairtrade and sourcing. As consumers seek out more Fairtrade goods and companies move to satisfy that demand there will be a
profusion of different schemes. We here at eChocolateNYC believe that eventually there will have to be some sort of agency that creates a
hard and firm set of guidelines that can not be violated if a manufacturer wants to claim that they are selling Fairtrade products. This agency
will have to have a worldwide reach and a budget that allows it to investigate and make sure everything is on the up and up.
February 09, 2008 - With the clock ticking towards Valentine's Day we recommend you take a look at what Chocolat Moderne has to offer.
We haven't tried any of these particular items but they look great and out experience with Moderne in the past has always been positive. The
Mysteries Of Love assortment looks tremendous and includes The Lover (passion fruit and cardamom caramel), Madame ‘X’tasy (sea
salted Illy espresso and dark chocolate caramel), Caramel Caresse (Poire Williams Pear and Eau de Vie caramel), Purity (90% Ecuadoran
Rainforest ganache), The Player (smokey single malt scotch with 72% Venezuelan ganache) and Raspberry Rendez-vous (raspberries
with 64% Madagascan ganache).
February 07, 2008 - Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles school of dentistry have developed a sugar free lollipop that is
infused with 15 mg of licorice. The licorice kills Streptococcus mutans in the mouth which causes tooth decay while not harming bacteria
that is helpful for good oral health. Dove has come up with some nice items for Valentine's Day. They will personalize the wrapper that your
chocolate comes with what ever message you want . Cadbury has adopted the Pathatrix pathogen testing system to help monitor bacteria
in its products. The company is particularly sensitive after 2006's salmonella outbreak in England that was traced back to Cadbury product.
Wrigley set a new sales record in 2007 , $5.4 billion, and operating profits were up 17%. The company attributed its strong growth to
increased sales in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Deborah Markus of Bellonline has a nice review of the book The Consuming
Passion by Sandra Boynton. Lindt & Spruengli is reporting a 14% increase in revenue from the year before. The company has done well
creating new products for their premium and dark chocolate lines. Cadbury Schweppes has sold to UK based Tangerine some of the
brands in its portfolio. Tangerine purchased Monkhill Confectionery Company which makes Barratt Sherbet Fountains and Butterkist
popcorn as well as Jameson's chocolate. Cold Stone Creamery and Ghirardelli have partnered to offer a variety of products that combine
Ghiradelli chocolate and ice cream. The Orange County Register has an interesting recipe for Chocolate Suicide Cake. The article has an
audio slide show of chocolate desserts that is worth checking out also. A tanker truck full of chocolate was involved in a crash closing
down the Chicago Skyway yesterday. Three people were injured. Seattle, Washington has quite the chocolate scene for a city its size.
Seattle did great at Summer Fancy Food Show in New York with Theo, Frans and Seattle Chocolate Co. taking three of the four top spots.
Fran's won the gold for hot beverage. Dove previewed its new products DOVE® BEAUTIFUL Smooth Milk Chocolate and DOVE® VITALIZE
(TM) Rich Dark Chocolate at the Bryant Park Fashion show last Saturday. The link will also take you to a video of the event. If you happen to
be in the Sacramento, Calfornia area over the next few weeks East Bay Restaurant Supply is giving classes that look interesting. Ginger
Elizabeth, of Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates will giving a demonstration with a class fee of $55. In the early 1990's Kraft Foods purchased a
factory in Cieszyn, Poland. The factory produces the Prince Polo chocolate bar and employs 250 people. The factory was owned by a
Jewish family and was seized by the Nazis when they invaded Poland in 1939. After the war the communist government nationalized the
factory. It was sold in 1993 to Kraft. The family has never been compensated for their property and one member has self published a book
"They Stole Our Chocolate Factory." Kraft contends that their purchase of the factory was legitimate as they purchased the plant under
Poland's privatization program. Display & Designs Ideas Magazine has an interesting piece on different chocolate shops across America
and how they look from a design point of view.
crooks who made off with nearly 100 tons of chocolate spread. The owner of the factory in Haifa values the loot at near $415,000 and
estimates it would have taken five trucks to drive off with it all. If you are in Northeastern Ohio during the beginning of May you may want to
take a look at the Northeastern Ohio Chocolate Festival which will run May 8, 10 and 11, 2008. The event will be held at The Cleveland
Heights Community Center Pavilion, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Of special note the first ever National Fudge Brownie Eating Championship,
sanctioned by The Association of Independent Competitive Eaters, will be one of the events held in conjunction with the Festival. Out of
Hong Kong are some interesting photos of chocolate ornaments that were on display to help celebrate the opening of a new chocolate
store in Hong Kong. San Francisco's Pier 17 will be home to a new chocolate factory later this spring. The venture TCHO is co - founded by
Louis Rossetto, co-founder of Wired Magazine and Timothy Childs aformer space shuttle technologist. You can "beta test" the chocolate by
ordering a bar from their website www.tcho.com. The Advertising Standards Authority in The United Kingdom has responded to
complaints that a recent Nutella advertisement carries misleading information. The Authority rejected the commercials claim that Nutella
was part of a balanced breakfast because the spread is high in fat and sugar. Ferrero UK has been ordered to drop the ad in the future.
February 28, 2008 - The Adam Smith Institute in the United Kingdom has issued a report that comes down hard on fairtrade. The reports
author claims that fairtrade traps farmers in a cycle of poverty by guaranteeing them a set price which doesn't encourage them to improve
the quality of their crops. Some of the arguments seem specious. The author claims that farmers might hold back their better quality crops
if they can get more in the marketplace than sell them at the agreed upon freetrade price. It would seem to us that if the farmer is now in a
position where he has multiple options to sell his crop he can only come out ahead. The author also makes the case that farmers are
trapped in poverty because of restricted trade policies which may or may not be true but we have been hearing this for years. In the
meanwhile if fairtrade arrangements are putting more money in the hands of farmers who are struggling daily with poverty we support
them. Hershey Co. has announced that Edward Kelly has resigned from the companies board. Mr. Kelly was named to the board three
months ago in a shake up after the company had not done as well as expected in 2007.
February 27, 2008 - Cadbury Schweppes announced a 2.1% drop in operating profit for the year, 2007. Total sales rose 6.6% but
softness in the companies beverage business combined with a weak US dollar and rising costs in milk and cocoa have left the company
with a declining profit situation. The company also took a hit of close to $60,000,000 when Accelerade a new sports drink didn't fare well. A
new report puts chocolate at the top of what is being referred to as the mood foods category. As companies look to supply consumer
demand for products that stimulate neurotransmitters. Chocolate is loaded with neurotransmitters but the report which is geared to the
European market points out that chocolate will have to eventually live up to its proponents claims or it will become a passing fad in this
market. Barry Callebaut has released the reults of a new study that was done in the USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium
and Switzerland. The study found that 27% of consumers in these countries purchase chocolate for its ability to boost a feeling of well -
being. The study also found 21% of consumers are interested in chocolate that has added functional ingredients. What could be sweeter
than this. Project Runway's episode 6 had clothing based on Hershey products. The actual designs are up for auction on Project
Runway's website. The money raised will be donated to The Young Survival Coalition. Vosges Haut - Chocolat has introduced a new
product Mini Mo's Bacon Bar . The bar is 41% cocoa and applewood smoked bacon. We've reported in the past on experiments with bacon
and chocolate mixing but given Vosges attention to detail and high quality we have a feeling this will turn out to be the best we've yet seen.
The market for chocolate in India has been expanding in recent years and the increased demand has led to Indian cocoa producers to
announce that they will increase production 60% over the next four years. The country is currently producing 10,000 tons per year and this
should bring local production to 16,000 tons a year. Current demand is thought to be somewhere in the 18,000 tons per year range. In the
United Kingdom Tate & Lyle has announced they will be converting all of their cane sugar to fairtrade by the end of next year. This will be the
largest switchover to fairtrade in the history of the United Kingdom. The firm will be using 70,000 tons of sugar, raised in Belize, a year. This
is seven times the current size of the British fairtrade sugar market.
February 21, 2008 - Fauchon has announced that as of February 29th they will be further scaling back their operations in the United
States. Their website will cease operation as of that date and their products will only be available in a handful of places here. It was only a
few years ago that fauchon had three shops here in Manhattan alone. You will still be able to purchase Fauchon products at the
Bridgemarket Food Emporium. We've all seen the reports on the shrinking honey bee population here in the United States. The obvious
conclusion was the price of honey was going to go up. Another problem has cropped up, pardon the pun. Over 130 different crops are at
risk and of course companies that use these plants as ingredients are either facing or soon will face supply difficulties. Haagen-Dazs has
given $250,000 towards research into this matter and has launched a 'HD loves HB' campaign and is sourcing money for research through
a new flavor Vanilla Honey Bee. We here at eChocolateNYC think this is great and applaud Haagen-Daz in this effort. English chocolate
company Thorntons has announced their fifth straight quarter of growth. Operating profit was also up 13% for the same period. It was just a
few years ago that Thorntons was struggling and brought in anew management team to revive their fortunes. Mars UK has launched a
Facebook site that will allow users to order candy bars online. Users of the site will be able to give Mars products as gifts by paying by
Paypal and then the recipient of the candy bar will receive a voucher that can be used at 12,500 participating PayPoint stores in the UK to
pick up the gift. With Easter just around the corner Cadbury Schweppes has announced a plan to cut the amount of packaging on their
chocolate Easter eggs. The foil wrapped eggs will come in cardboard molded so the eggs will be easy to display in the shop but will have
no further packaging. Cadbury had previously announced they were pursuing a bold policy to lower the firms carbon footprint and this is just
one more step in that direction. Alfred Ritter has announced that production of their bars will be shifted from Russia back to Germany. The
company had spent $20 million in a deal with the Russian company Odintsovo Confectionery in 2003. Ritter then found that to achieve the
same uniform taste they had to import Alpine milk from Germany which of course defeated the purpose of manufacturing the chocolate in
Russia in the first place. M & M's has a guide to Academy Award watching and holding your own chocolate themed party for the event. You
can take a look at it here. M & M's has also announced their newest addition. Wildly Cherry which are red, cherry flavored M & M's. They are
a limited edition release but so were the Dark Chocolate M & M's which seem to be always available.
February 18, 2008 - The Health Care for the Homeless fundraiser, the 17th Annual Chocolate Affair, was held and raised $140,000 this
year. Almost 60 food industry professionals mostly from the Baltimore area, set up stations where you could sample everything from
chocolate risotto to absinthe-infused chocolate truffles. Jael and Dan Rattigan opened the French Broad Chocolate Lounge on Feb. 2 on
South Lexington Avenue, Asheville, North Carolina. They had been making their own chocolate truffles, French Broad Luscious Chocolates,
and now have their own retail establishment where they also sell pastry and other chocolate goods. Palm Springs, California held its
Chocolate Lovers luncheon once again. The event started in 1999 and this year was held at the Thunderbird Country Club. It started with a
light lunch of "real food" and then the 300 or so assembled guests proceeded to work their way through a 40 foot display of chocolate
treats. The event raises money to provide scholarships for women who want to enter the food industry. In Hershey, Pennsylvania work is
progressing on the new Hershey Museum. The 23.5 million dollar project will tell more about Milton Hershey and hopes to draw 240,000
visitors a year. Boston has a neat tour. For $75 you can take a trolley and sample some of Boston's best chocolate. Top of the Hub
restaurant is one destination. Then its off to Omni Parker House Hotel birthplace of Boston Creme Pie. The final stop is the Langham Hotel
for a massive chocolate buffet.
February 17, 2008 - The Huntington Mall in Huntington, West Virginia will be the home of the first Chocolate Celebration by Faith in Action
of the River Cities. The event will be held on Saturday, March 15th between 10 am - 2 pm. Shugar Shack Chocolatier on W. Adams Street in
Jacksonville, Florida was a busy place the day before Valentine's Day. Shop owner Suzanne Marino hand dipped 2,500 long stem
strawberries in her own chocolate. Marialisa Calta has a neat little article posted online with a brief history of Valentine's Day stretching
back from the times of ancient Rome to today. See’s Candies is recalling 16-ounce bags of its Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips. The bags
were mislabeled as milk free whereas they contain traces of milk which may cause problems for those with allergies. In Japan instead of
Valentine's day department stores hold a chocolate month. The month long festival is capped off by February 14th chocolate giving with a
twist. In Japan the women give the chocolate to men. This started in the 1970s and over time women have started to purchase chocolate
for themselves and their female friends.
February 16, 2008 - In The United Kingdom Nestle Rowntree has reintroduced the Blue Smartie. Blue was pulled from the Smartie
Universe and replaced with white two years ago when the coloring in the Blue Smarties was linked to hyperactivity in children. The new blue
coloring is made from a seaweed extract and is all natural. While the rest of the world was busy celebrating Valentine's Day Thursday in
Ghana they were busy celebrating the Second Annual National Chocolate Day. Valentine's Day itself is popular in Ghana and morphing it
into Chocolate Day helps to bring attention to one of the countries largest industries.
February 15, 2008 - The German based company Beneo Palatinit has done some research into the willingness of consumers to purchase
sugar free confections and has come to the conclusion that the market will continue to grow. Other studies in Europe seem to show a trend
where 30% or so of consumers are looking for ways to avoid sugar. As the market grows companies keep improving their product lines to
appeal to interested consumers and the increased quantity of choices encourages even more consumers. Mars, Nestle, Kraft and Ritter
have all confirmed that they are the subject of an investigation of price fixing by The Federal Cartel Office in Germany. All of the companies
have had to turn over records to the Office. With a similar investigation occurring in Canada that has targeted Mars and Nestle as well as
Hershey there may be more investigations on the way. There is an interesting article on Nutringredients.com exploring the confusion over
Fairtrade and sourcing. As consumers seek out more Fairtrade goods and companies move to satisfy that demand there will be a
profusion of different schemes. We here at eChocolateNYC believe that eventually there will have to be some sort of agency that creates a
hard and firm set of guidelines that can not be violated if a manufacturer wants to claim that they are selling Fairtrade products. This agency
will have to have a worldwide reach and a budget that allows it to investigate and make sure everything is on the up and up.
February 09, 2008 - With the clock ticking towards Valentine's Day we recommend you take a look at what Chocolat Moderne has to offer.
We haven't tried any of these particular items but they look great and out experience with Moderne in the past has always been positive. The
Mysteries Of Love assortment looks tremendous and includes The Lover (passion fruit and cardamom caramel), Madame ‘X’tasy (sea
salted Illy espresso and dark chocolate caramel), Caramel Caresse (Poire Williams Pear and Eau de Vie caramel), Purity (90% Ecuadoran
Rainforest ganache), The Player (smokey single malt scotch with 72% Venezuelan ganache) and Raspberry Rendez-vous (raspberries
with 64% Madagascan ganache).
February 07, 2008 - Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles school of dentistry have developed a sugar free lollipop that is
infused with 15 mg of licorice. The licorice kills Streptococcus mutans in the mouth which causes tooth decay while not harming bacteria
that is helpful for good oral health. Dove has come up with some nice items for Valentine's Day. They will personalize the wrapper that your
chocolate comes with what ever message you want . Cadbury has adopted the Pathatrix pathogen testing system to help monitor bacteria
in its products. The company is particularly sensitive after 2006's salmonella outbreak in England that was traced back to Cadbury product.
Wrigley set a new sales record in 2007 , $5.4 billion, and operating profits were up 17%. The company attributed its strong growth to
increased sales in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Deborah Markus of Bellonline has a nice review of the book The Consuming
Passion by Sandra Boynton. Lindt & Spruengli is reporting a 14% increase in revenue from the year before. The company has done well
creating new products for their premium and dark chocolate lines. Cadbury Schweppes has sold to UK based Tangerine some of the
brands in its portfolio. Tangerine purchased Monkhill Confectionery Company which makes Barratt Sherbet Fountains and Butterkist
popcorn as well as Jameson's chocolate. Cold Stone Creamery and Ghirardelli have partnered to offer a variety of products that combine
Ghiradelli chocolate and ice cream. The Orange County Register has an interesting recipe for Chocolate Suicide Cake. The article has an
audio slide show of chocolate desserts that is worth checking out also. A tanker truck full of chocolate was involved in a crash closing
down the Chicago Skyway yesterday. Three people were injured. Seattle, Washington has quite the chocolate scene for a city its size.
Seattle did great at Summer Fancy Food Show in New York with Theo, Frans and Seattle Chocolate Co. taking three of the four top spots.
Fran's won the gold for hot beverage. Dove previewed its new products DOVE® BEAUTIFUL Smooth Milk Chocolate and DOVE® VITALIZE
(TM) Rich Dark Chocolate at the Bryant Park Fashion show last Saturday. The link will also take you to a video of the event. If you happen to
be in the Sacramento, Calfornia area over the next few weeks East Bay Restaurant Supply is giving classes that look interesting. Ginger
Elizabeth, of Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates will giving a demonstration with a class fee of $55. In the early 1990's Kraft Foods purchased a
factory in Cieszyn, Poland. The factory produces the Prince Polo chocolate bar and employs 250 people. The factory was owned by a
Jewish family and was seized by the Nazis when they invaded Poland in 1939. After the war the communist government nationalized the
factory. It was sold in 1993 to Kraft. The family has never been compensated for their property and one member has self published a book
"They Stole Our Chocolate Factory." Kraft contends that their purchase of the factory was legitimate as they purchased the plant under
Poland's privatization program. Display & Designs Ideas Magazine has an interesting piece on different chocolate shops across America
and how they look from a design point of view.
| February 2008 News Archive |
| Any comments or suggestions, contact us and let us know what you're thinking. |