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.
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.
| February 2008 News Archive |
| Any comments or suggestions, contact us and let us know what you're thinking. |
