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☆ As cocoa prices soar this Easter, chocolatiers consider alternatives
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( John Towfighi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Cocoa prices are surging so high, the Easter Bunny might want to hoard its chocolate. Poor climate and crop diseases in West Africa – home to 70% of global cocoa production – have tightened supply and caused prices to skyrocket. As prices rise, some chocolatiers are exploring cost-cutting alternatives, like diversifying their products to depend less on cocoa. Yet mining often destroys farms and the possibility of a livelihood in cocoa production, Issaka said. “Given the persistently high cocoa prices, it may be necessary for us to make responsible adjustments to pricing in the future,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

Persons: Hershey’s, Shaquille O’Neal, Michele Buck, Billy Roberts, Roberts, ” Roberts, Issaka, Will Kletter, Kletter, “, Peng Xu, Christopher Taylor, Li, Taylor, ”, “ We’re, “ It’s, ” Taylor Organizations: CNN, Cadbury, NCA, “ Brands, Industries, International Cocoa Organization, Rabobank, US, ”, Euromonitor Locations: West Africa, North Region, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Silicon, Washington ,, Manhattan

☆ How Nestlé is changing in an older and Ozempic-obsessed world
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —In 1867, pharmacist Henri Nestlé combined dried cow’s milk with cereals and sugar to create a safe, easily digestible breast-milk substitute. Less infant formulaThe company also plans to use its expertise in nutrition to develop products that serve the growing numbers of older consumers. Nutrition for older consumers“Clearly, across the world in most major markets, the elderly and older population is growing. On current trends, that number is expected to increase to more than 4 billion by 2035, according to the World Obesity Federation. In September, Nestlé announced plans to increase sales of more nutritious products by 20-25 billion francs ($22.8-$28.5 billion) by 2030.

Persons: Henri Nestlé, Wegovy, Mark Schneider, ” Schneider, Schneider, Nestlé, we’re Organizations: London CNN —, United Nations, Schneider, Nutrition, Omega, World Obesity Locations: Swiss, Ireland, Wegovy

☆ Branding’s corporate titans face moment of truth
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Now for the first time this century, sales volumes at the big consumer goods manufacturers are falling. In the first nine months of the year, Kraft Heinz said the quantity of its sold items declined by nearly 6 percentage points year-on-year. That’s likely to allow Nestlé, Kraft Heinz and Unilever to see flat or modest increases in 2023 sales, LSEG data shows. Earlier this year, outgoing Kraft Heinz Chief Executive Miguel Patricio said the company lost market share to a branded competitor that spent more. Unilever, Nestlé and Kraft Heinz have all pointed to a slowing of price growth in the coming year.

Persons: Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, ’, Xavier Roger, Kraft, what’s, John Furner, Miguel Patricio, Mars, ”, François, EY, George Hay, Streisand Neto, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Consumer, Kraft, Unilever, Danone, ’, United Nations, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Nestlé, Kraft Heinz, Target, Reuters Graphics, Obesity, Mondelez, Walmart, “, Thomson Locations: U.S, Europe, Australia, Norway, Chocolat, London

☆ Halloween chocolate is pricier this year as El Niño hits cacao bean crop
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"There is not much room for error, which makes cocoa especially vulnerable to climate change," said Branch. Coupled with an already-pressured sugar market, the cocoa shortage has spooked major chocolate makers, sending prices of classic candies higher this Halloween season. Specialty chocolatiers have so far been immune to the elevated cocoa prices. Greg D'Alesandre, who leads chocolate sourcing for specialty brand Dandelion Chocolate, said its prices are protected from industry-wide volatility because the company pays a premium for high-end cocoa suppliers. A bad cocoa-growing season makes Halloween chocolate not only more expensive, but sometimes, it also makes it smaller.

Persons: David Branch, Candy, Mars, Greg D'Alesandre, D'Alesandre Organizations: Washington , D.C, Wells, Food Institute, National Retail Federation, CNBC, Dandelion Locations: Washington ,, Cocoa, West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria

☆ Nestlé is closing an infant formula factory as China’s birth rate plunges
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Nestlé plans to close a plant in Ireland that makes baby formula, citing a sharp drop in China’s birth rate, in a fresh example of the far-reaching implications of China’s demographic crisis. The world’s largest food company said Wednesday that it would shut its Wyeth Nutrition infant formula factory in Askeaton, a town in Ireland, by the first quarter of 2026 unless a buyer could be found. The plant makes infant formula products exclusively for export to markets in Asia. “[Sales] growth was driven by pricing as we continued to navigate historic inflation levels,” CEO Mark Schneider said in a statement. Separately, Nestlé said it had temporarily shut a factory in Israel as a “precaution” but that the plant was now operating again.

Persons: London CNN —, ” Nestlé, Nestlé, Mark Schneider Organizations: London CNN Locations: Ireland, Askeaton, Asia, China, Switzerland, Israel

☆ Nestle shares at two-year low as investors weigh Wegovy rollout
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Hannah McKay/Photo Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 6 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S) shares were under pressure on Friday as investors weighed the potential impact of Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) blockbuster weight-losing drug Wegovy and how it could reduce spending on food. The KitKat and Nescafe coffee maker's shares were down 2% and headed for their lowest level in more than two years. However, Cox does not regard this as a substantial risk to Nestle and the broader food industry in the long term. Bruno Monteyne from Bernstein also pointed to the Wegovy impact, but saw little logic in the sell-off. "Danone sells water, baby milk powder, and yogurt: not sure how those would be negatively impacted by GLP1 / Wegovy?"

Persons: Kat, Hannah McKay, Wegovy, Peers, Kepler Cheuvreux, Jon Cox, John Furner, Cox, Bruno Monteyne, Bernstein, Andrey Sychev, John Revill, Mark Potter Organizations: Nestle, REUTERS, Peers Danone, Unilever, Kepler, Bloomberg, Danone, Health, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, U.S

☆ Biocredits Could Help Save the Earth. But a Market Is Some Way Off.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Joshua Kirby | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Biodiversity credits could be key to funding the conservation of the Earth’s ecosystems, but setting up a functioning market to buy and sell these payment tokens won’t be easy. The World Economic Forum is working on bringing together stakeholders, but admits that a scaled-up market is still some way in the future. It follows the lead of so-called voluntary carbon credits that allow firms to buy credits to offset their own emissions. Those global carbon credit markets are now worth some $2 billion, up from $200 million five years ago, according to environmental-finance data provider Ecosystem Marketplace. “I feel a bit of ‘carbon envy’ when I look at the carbon markets,” Cornell’s Tobin said, noting that biodiversity markets lack a universal metric that can apply to every project, unlike carbon markets where each credit represents one metric ton of carbon dioxide.

Persons: John Tobin, de la Puente, Tobin, don’t, Cornell’s Tobin, ” Tobin, JULIAN HABER, Zoe Balmforth, ‘, ’ ”, Balmforth, ”, ” Nestlé, Nestlé, biocredits, Markus Mueller, ” Mueller, Joshua Kirby, joshua.kirby@wsj.com Organizations: Economic, Paulson Institute, Cornell University, Credit Suisse, Companies, UN, REUTERS, Sustainable Business, Unilever, Deutsche Locations: Australia, Switzerland, biocredits

Demand for carbon credits is on track to fall in 2023, according to two of the top data providers. Nestle, which has also not disclosed its spending on offsets, said it would stop using carbon offsets and was seeking other routes to net zero. Until this year, the voluntary carbon market had grown as more companies came under shareholder pressure to adopt net zero policies. SECOND THOUGHTSFor the carbon markets, another issue is that regulators and carbon market advisory bodies are limiting the scope of their use by companies. "You need to reduce emissions and that's how you will be judged in the market when you're disclosing your carbon emissions."

Persons: Elizabeth Frantz, Gucci, Renat Heuberger, Stephen Donofrio, certifier Verra, EasyJet, Jane Ashton, Ashton, Naomi Swickard, Verra, Zimbabwe's, Steve Wentzel, Wentzel, Kristian Rönn, Rob Hayward, Susanna Twidale, Sarah McFarlane, Barbara Lewis Organizations: New England Forestry Foundation, REUTERS, Nestle, Reuters, Marketplace, Shell, Boston Consulting, Offset, GEO, Verra, Carbon, Investments, United Nations, Voluntary, Initiative, EU, KLM, Companies, Thomson Locations: Hersey, New Hampton , New Hampshire, U.S, Kenya, Pole, Stockholm, Ghana

☆ Your snacks are getting more expensive. Blame these big food companies, not inflation.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But major food companies, from Nestlé to Unilever, increased prices much more than that. The world's biggest food companies spent the first half of this year raising prices, according to several earnings reports released this week. Some external factors have impacted the costs that major food companies pay to produce their products. It's especially easy for global food companies to raise prices, given that a few companies own most of the brands in many US grocery stores. But there's some evidence that consumers aren't willing to put up with higher food prices indefinitely.

Persons: PepsiCo's, Ramon Laguarta, We've, James Quincey, Quincey, PepsiCo's Laguarta Organizations: Consumer, Unilever, Service, PepsiCo, Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Federal Reserve, New York Times, Walmart, Costco, Sam's Locations: Nestlé, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Clorox, Kingsford, Europe

☆ KitKat and Nescafe owner Nestle says it's raised prices by nearly 10% so far this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Cheerios, Nescafe, Nesquik, KitKat, Milkybar and Purina products, manufactured by Nestle SA, arranged in London, U.K., on Monday, July 26, 2021. Consumer goods firm Nestle raised prices by 9.8% in the first quarter, attributing this to "significant cost inflation." But sales volumes, listed as "real internal growth," fell 0.5%. The company raised prices by 8.2% last year, and saw sales volumes up by 0.1%. It comes as consumers struggle with sharply higher prices of food, household basics and beyond.

[1/2] The logo of chocolate and cocoa product maker Barry Callebaut is pictured during the company's annual news conference in Zurich, Switzerland, Nov. 7, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File PhotoApril 5 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Barry Callebaut (BARN.S), the world's biggest chocolate maker, on Wednesday appointed Peter Feld as its new chief executive after lowering sales volume guidance as inflation-hit consumers cut back on purchases. The chocolate maker now forecasts full-year volume growth to be "flat to modest," Chief Financial Officer Ben De Schryver said. Barry Callebaut shares were down 2.5%, according to Julius Baer bank's pre-market indications. The company said that the sales volumes decline moderated in the second quarter, slowing to -0.5%, from -5.1% in the previous quarter.

☆ Chocolate maker Barry Callebaut's half year sales volumes drop
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] The logo of chocolate and cocoa product maker Barry Callebaut is pictured during the company's annual news conference in Zurich, Switzerland, Nov. 7, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File PhotoApril 5 (Reuters) - Barry Callebaut (BARN.S), the world's biggest chocolate maker, on Wednesday reported lower half year sales volumes due to limited availability of its global brands and lower customer demand due by inflation. The Zurich-based company, which supplies chocolate for the Magnum ice creams made by Unilever (ULVR.L) and for Nestle's (NESN.S) KitKat bars, said sales volumes in its first half of fiscal 2022/2023 fell 2.9% to 1.130 million tonnes. Reporting by Andrey Sychev and Paolo LaudaniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nestle sees price pressures easing -chairman tells newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, March 31 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S) is seeing an easing of price pressures stemming from raw materials, transport and packaging costs, said Chairman Paul Bulcke, adding that company would still increase prices. "Price pressure is gradually easing," Bulcke told Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft in an interview published on Friday. Nestle increased its prices by 8.2% during 2022, but sales volumes - which it calls real internal growth - only increased by 0.1%. During the third and fourth quarters of last year, the maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe instant coffee suffered lower sales volumes as cash strapped consumers cut back. "For positive real internal growth on an annual basis, I remain confident," he told the newspaper.

☆ Nestle to examine banking relationships following Credit Suisse downfall
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, March 28 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S) will examine its banking relationships following the planned takeover of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) by UBS (UBSG.S), the food group's Chief Executive Mark Schneider said on Tuesday. The world's largest food group was a client of Credit Suisse, Schneider told broadcaster TeleZueri in an interview to be shown on Tuesday evening, and had been following the collapse of Switzerland's second-biggest bank. "We have worked closely with Credit Suisse for many decades in a spirit of trust," Schneider told the broadcaster. "You can see from such an example that Switzerland as a business location and a financial centre are very closely linked. We now have to see how to reorganise our banking relationships, both with Swiss and international providers."

☆ Nestlé Says Less Than Half of Its Main Portfolio Is Ranked as Healthy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Joshua Kirby | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Nestlé SA promised it will work to boost the nutritional value of its snacks, drinks and food products, after most of its portfolio was rated as unhealthy. Less than half of Nestlé’s main food-and-drink portfolio is considered healthy, according to the results of an international nutrient profiling system that the Swiss food company published for the first time. Nestlé started using it last year with the aim of boosting transparency about the nutritional value of its products. “Our focus is on improving the nutritional value of our products,” Nestlé said. The rankings from the Access to Nutrition Initiative rate companies on their practices and disclosure, including on ensuring healthy products and influencing consumer choices.

☆ Hershey launches vegan Reese’s
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Vegan Reese’s are happening. Hershey, which makes Reese’s along with Hershey bars, Kisses and other chocolates and candies, announced two new dairy-free products on Tuesday: Reese’s plant-based peanut butter cups, and a vegan chocolate Hershey bar with almonds and sea salt, each made with oats instead of dairy and designed to taste like milk chocolate. The new Reese’s variety will be available nationally this month, and the new Hershey bar is arriving in April. The company is the latest to introduce a vegan chocolate in hopes that it will attract more customers. Mondelez (MDLZ) acquired Hu, a company which makes vegan chocolate, that year, as well.

☆ Nestlé to close operations in Myanmar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Nestlé has announced that it will close its sole factory and head office in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, as it switches to a more “sustainable” business model amid ongoing turmoil in the country. Myanmar has been rocked by violence and instability since 2021 when a military coup ousted democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her government. “We will do all we can to support everyone affected by this decision,” a Nestlé spokesperson told CNN Tuesday in a statement. Total (TOT) started operating the offshore Yadana gas field in Myanmar in 1992, and was the biggest shareholder in the project. “Nestlé started distributing our products in Myanmar in 1991 and expanded our presence in the country,” the spokesperson said.

☆ Walmart sees lower 2023 performance in time of economic uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Siddharth Cavale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"There's still a lot of trepidation and uncertainty with the economic outlook. "So, that makes us cautious on the economic outlook because we simply don't know what we don't know." Home Depot (HD.N) also forecast weaker-than-expected annual profits on Tuesday as soaring prices hit demand for home-improvement products. They want the allure of savings and Walmart provides that," said McNew, whose firm holds about 350,000 Walmart shares. Walmart signs are displayed inside a Walmart store in Mexico City, Mexico March 28, 2019.

☆ Nestlé Sells Less After Raising Prices, Moves to Drop Some Unpopular Lines
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Peter Stiff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

KitKat-maker Nestlé is trying to balance how much it can raise prices by without prompting consumers to cut back on purchases. Nestlé SA reported a fall in sales volumes for the fourth quarter as the maker of Nescafé coffee and Purina pet food raised prices to offset soaring costs and halted sales of some less popular products. The Swiss packaged-foods giant said Thursday that sales volumes fell 2.6% in the last three months of 2022, with prices rising by an average of 10.1%. Organic growth for the quarter was 7.5%, below analysts’ expectations.

☆ Nestle plans price hikes after inflation eats into profits
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

He declined to comment on the planned level of price increases, which he said were necessary to offset the damage caused by commodity price rises. That is after all the pricing we have done in 2022," Schneider told reporters. Europe was the company's main drag on margins last year, with Nestle taking a roughly 190 basis point margin hit. Schneider told CNBC: "It had a lot to do with inflation hitting North America earlier, in 2021, and for different reasons. Europe saw a spike in inflation, in energy costs, especially after the invasion of Ukraine.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoFeb 16 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc's (WMT.N) results on Tuesday will provide Wall Street with new details on what items American shoppers are buying as rising grocery prices squeeze their wallets. In December, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said "we do not like" that some suppliers were hinting at raising prices further in 2023. He warned that Walmart would allocate space to private and tertiary brands if prices got too high. KitKat maker Nestle on Thursday said further price hikes were necessary to offset commodity costs. Still, Wall Street expects Walmart sales and revenue to rise in 2023 as its shipping and logistics costs moderate, even as labor expenses go up.

☆ Nestlé says food prices will rise further this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Food, including ice cream, will see significant price increases in 2023, CEO Alan Jope said on the same call. Unilever said price increases caused sales volumes to decline by 2.1% in 2022. Heineken, meanwhile, said it expected to sell less beer in Europe this year because of “steep” price increases related to energy costs. At the time, Tesco (TSCDF) described the company’s price increases as “unjustifiable.” Once the products were restored, prices were unchanged on Heinz’s most popular lines. Gabby Jones/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesTesco has also “fallen out with other suppliers” over price increases, its chairman John Allen recently told the BBC.

☆ Nestle full year profit misses forecasts despite price increases
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The maker of the KitKat chocolate bar and Nescafe instant coffee said its net profit attributable to shareholders fell to 9.3 billion Swiss francs ($10.08 billion), missing forecasts for 11.6 billion francs in a company gathered consensus of analysts. Sales increased to 94.4 billion francs, missing forecasts for 95.02 billion francs, despite price increases introduced during the year. Nestle had targeted organic growth of 8% for the year. Pricing was by far the biggest component of the organic growth, increasing by 8.2%. "Organic growth was solid, margins continued to be resilient, and our underlying earnings per share development was strong."

☆ Nestle to hike food prices further in 2023, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S) will have to raise prices of its food products further this year to offset higher production costs that it has yet to fully pass on to consumers, Chief Executive Mark Schneider told a German newspaper. The increases will not be as steep as they were in 2022, but "we have some catching up to do over the full year," Schneider was quoted as telling Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview due for publication on Sunday. In the first nine months of 2022, the world's biggest food group, which makes KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe reported organic sales growth of 8.5%, of which price rises accounted for 7.5 percentage points. Inflation in many developed economies has been running at multi-decade highs, driven in large part by increases in prices of food and energy. Reporting by John Stonestreet; Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nestle nudges 2022 sales outlook higher again
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Kit Kat chocolate covered wafer bars manufactured by Nestle are seen in London, Britain, July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/Photo Illustration/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Now sees organic sales up 8.0-8.5% vs around 8% beforeMakes progress on share buyback programmeLaunches review of peanut allergy treatmentZURICH, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S) has nudged its 2022 sales outlook higher again, the world's largest packaged food company said ahead of an investor seminar on Tuesday. The company said it now expected organic sales growth of 8-8.5%, up from an October forecast of around 8%, and an underlying trading operating profit margin of around 17.0%. Nestle confirmed it was aiming to repurchase 20 billion Swiss francs ($21.09 billion) worth of shares from 2022 to 2024 and said it had already bought around 9.7 billion francs worth. Nestle shares were indicated 0.8% higher in pre-market activity.

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