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☆ King Arthur left an ancient trail across Britain. Experts say it offers clues about the truth behind the myth
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-16 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

Today, he is best associated with Tintagel Castle, where remains of a settlement dating back to the fifth century perch strikingly on an islet off the wild coast of Cornwall. Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagesFor Stoyle, it’s likely that the myth of Arthur has at least its roots in fact. This Arthur was played by Clive Owen in the 2004 film, “King Arthur,” alongside Keira Knightley as Guinevere. The sixth-century “Artognou stone," discovered in 1998, has linked Tintagel with King Arthur for some scholars, though others dismiss it. Of course, medieval history writers were fast and loose with the facts.

Persons: CNN —, He’s, King Arthur, —, Arthur’s, Arthur, France —, Tintagel, Merlin, they’d, There’s, who’ve, Mark Stoyle, Brittany —, ”, Stoyle, “, Guinevere, Lancelot, Clive Owen, “ King Arthur, Keira Knightley, Gandalf, Dumbledore, Glastonbury Abby, Grant, indelibly, JFK's, Harvey Georges, Pierre Vinet, Sam Morgan Moore, Ben Birchall, Arthur . PaulMaguire, Keira Knghtley, Jonathan Hession, Gerhard Zwerger, King Arthur Prev, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Geoffrey —, Camelot —, Geoffrey, Mordred, Win Scutt, Earl Richard, Prince William . “ Earl Richard, Britain —, ” “ It’s, Arthur —, Scutt, Nicholas J, Higham, ” Higham, J.R.R, Tolkien —, laud, Gildas — “, ” Henry VIII, superfan Henry VIII, Oli Scarff, England’s King Henry VII, Richard III, he’d, –, Prince, Wales — Arthur, Henry’s, England, Henry VIII, Henry, David’s, Elizabeth I, Stuart, Arthurs, ” Scutt Organizations: CNN, Celtic, Camelot, Cornwall Glastonbury, Wales Cadbury, Glastonbury Tor, Cadbury, Glastonbury Abbey, UK’s University of Southampton, Bettmann, Disney, Cornish, Bank, Getty, Royal Mail, Walt Disney Pictures, Avalon, English Heritage, University of Manchester, Britons, Glastonbury Locations: England, Europe, Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Wales, Cornwall, southwesternmost, Tintagel, Tintagel Castle, Cornwall Glastonbury Abbey , Somerset Caerleon Castle, Wyddfa, Wales Cadbury Castle , Somerset Slaughterbridge, Island, Wales Winchester Castle, Hampshire, Edinburgh, Somerset, Caerleon Castle, Camelot, Mount Snowdon, Barfog, Glastonbury, Baschurch, Shropshire, Mynydd y Gaer, Bodmin, Las Vegas, Winchester, Caerleon, Cornwall’s, Avalon, Cornish, Greece, Turkey, London, Higham, AFP, Brittany, Ludlow, St

☆ Chocolate, but without the guilt? Why lab-grown cocoa and fermented fava beans could be the future
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

One way to tackle these problems is to make chocolate without using cocoa beans — the fermented seed of the cacao tree. It also makes cocoa powder and cocoa butter substitutes. “Instead of cocoa beans, we use fava beans sourced from farms across the UK and Europe, and then we ferment them in a similar way that cocoa farmers ferment their cocoa beans,” said Ross Newton, CEO of Nukoko, a UK-based startup that aims to launch on its domestic market next year. A study published this year shows it’s possible to make chocolate using only the cocoa pod, by replacing traditional sugar with a cocoa gel. “You make chocolate using only components from the fruit and not conventional crystallized sugar from sugar beets.

Persons: we’ve, ”, Max Marquart, shea, We’re, ” Marquart, Sara, Ross Newton, Newton, Michal Beressi Golomb, we’re, “ We’ve, “ That’s, Beressi Golomb, “ We’re, Beressi, “, “ We’d, Kim Mishra, ” Mishra Organizations: CNN, Planet, Department of Health Sciences, Technology, Swiss Institute of Technology Locations: West Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Africa, Brazil, Swiss, Germany, Czech Republic, Europe, Zurich

☆ After Mondelez's gains, Cramer says wait to buy stock until the Fed cuts interest rates
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"But, longer term, a well-run snack food company is a great place to be." Mondelez stock jumped over the past few weeks, now up more than 4% since the beginning of September, according to FactSet. To Cramer, Wall Street has embraced recession-proof food companies like Mondelez as investors worry about an economic slowdown. Lower rates makes these stocks "go out of style in the Wall Street fashion show," he added. He also expressed concerns about the effect of GLP-1 weight loss drugs on snack food companies as a whole.

Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, Cramer, Wall, Dirk Van de, Mondelez, Van de Organizations: Federal Reserve, Mondelez, Cadbury, Ritz, Fed, Bloomberg Locations: Mondelez

☆ AI's big marketing problem: People don't want to hear about it
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Lucia Moses | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Advertisers love talking about AI, but they face a big problem: consumers are suspicious of the tech and don't want to be bombarded with messaging about it. This issue was on full display at the Olympics, where Google face-planted with an ad for its Gemini AI tool. To date, 575 companies have bought ads to market AI products in 2024, up from 186 in all of 2023. "In the same way, I wouldn't trumpet that my new product was designed in Photoshop, so why would I talk about how my product was designed using AI? One of the top-performing US ads of 2023 came from Adobe, which ran a spot featuring a girl using AI to create a birthday card.

Persons: Iain Thomas, Sora, Josh Campo, Razorfish, Matt Rebeiro, Iris, Rebeiro, System1, Dove, Microsoft's, chatbot —, Thomas, JLo Organizations: Service, Olympics, Google, Business, Sounds, Washington State University, of Hospitality Marketing, Management, Yahoo, Publicis Media, YouTube, Enterprises, Adobe, Cadbury Locations: MediaRadar

☆ Marketers are living in an AI advertising minefield
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Lucia Moses | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This issue was on full display at the Olympics, where Google face-planted with an ad for its Gemini AI tool. "There seems to be this fundamental misunderstanding of what we should be using AI for," said Iain Thomas, who cowrote a book on AI, "What Makes Us Human?," and is a founder of Sounds Fun, an agency that helps marketers harness AI. To date, 575 companies have bought ads to market AI products in 2024, up from 186 in all of 2023. "In the same way, I wouldn't trumpet that my new product was designed in Photoshop, so why would I talk about how my product was designed using AI? One of the top-performing US ads of 2023 came from Adobe, which ran a spot featuring a girl using AI to create a birthday card.

☆ Activist Trian has a few levers to pull to build shareholder value at Solventum
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-27 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Business: Solventum , formerly known as 3M Health Care, is a global health-care company that was spun out from 3M on April 1 . As a standalone company, Solventum has been under-covered and misunderstood by the market. There is also no shortage of examples of Trian being a valuable corporate governance-oriented investor and creating tremendous shareholder value from the board level. While Trian has a history of being an active shareholder, the firm has also created tremendous shareholder value as an engaged director. Moreover, if there is an opportunity to divest one or more businesses, shareholders would have comfort with a financially astute shareholder representative on the board to evaluate competing offers to assure the maximization of shareholder value.

Persons: Trian, Nelson Peltz, Peltz, Solventum, Pepper, Ingersoll Rand's, Russell, Ken Squire Organizations: Health, 3M, What's, Bloomberg, Dental Solutions, Information Systems, Electric plc, Kraft Foods, Dow, General Electric, GE, GE HealthCare, GE HealthCare Technologies, 13D Locations: Solventum

☆ Cocoa prices are soaring. Candy makers will need to get creative
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-15 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Prices of cocoa have more than tripled over the last year, creating a big headache for candy makers and other food companies that use the ingredient to make chocolate. The price surge has since eased off slightly, but the crop is still commanding well above what food companies are used to paying. This season's cocoa crop is expected to experience the largest deficit in at least six decades, according to a Rabobank report from May. A YouGov survey conducted in October found that 72% of U.S. respondents had noticed shrinkflation in food products. J&J Snack Foods CEO Daniel Fachner has been keeping an eye on cocoa and chocolate prices.

Persons: Ferley Ospina, Hershey, Kinder, Ferrero, they'll, Steve Rosenstock, Mondelez, shrinkflation, Daniel Fachner, Fachner, Justin Sullivan, Nik Modi, Modi, shea, Rosenstock Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Cadbury, Clarkston Consulting, Rabobank, Reuters, Mondelez, Consumers, Snack, CNBC, RBC Capital, Jumbo Locations: Ragonvalia, Norte de Santader, Colombia, . West Africa, Ghana, U.S, Novato , California, West

☆ Ukraine’s Oreo production is back in business after Mondelez repaired its war-damaged factory
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Mondelez’s plant in Trostyanets is now fully rebuilt after opening partially last year to make chocolates, according to a company statement. The company said the Oreo cookies and other chocolates produced at the Ukrainian factory are not being exported to neighboring Russia. Mondelez said it was making its business in Russia “stand-alone” with a self-sufficient supply chain by the end of 2023. “We continue to increase our investments in supporting and rebuilding Ukraine,” the company said in the statement. Norges Bank, Mondelez’s 11th-largest shareholder according to LSEG’s Eikon, backed the proposal, according to the fund’s disclosures.

Persons: Mondelez, “, Dirk Van de, LSEG’s, ” Organizations: CNN, Nestle, Reuters, Milka, Cadbury, Norges Bank Locations: Ukraine, Trostyanets, Russia, Europe, Oreos, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukrainian, Mondelez’s

☆ Oreo-maker Mondelez fined $366 million for rigging European markets
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Mondelez, the maker of Oreo and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, has been fined €337.5 million ($366 million) for hindering the trade of chocolate, cookies and coffee between European Union countries in order to keep prices high. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, said in a statement Thursday that Mondelez had illegally limited cross-border sales within the EU to maintain higher prices for its products. The European Commission, which started looking into the case in 2019, found that Mondelez International (MDLZ) had deliberately restricted cross-border trade and abused “its dominant position” in some national markets for the sale of chocolate bars. Mondelez made an accrual for the fine last year and no further measures will be necessary to finance it. In another case, Mondelez required a customer to charge higher prices for exports compared with domestic sales.

Persons: London CNN — Mondelez, Margrethe Vestager, Mondelez, “, Mark Thompson Organizations: London CNN, Cadbury, Union, European Commission, Mondelez International, EU Locations: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania

☆ Opinion: This Easter, reflect on how your Bible came into being
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Opinion Candida Moss | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —The version of Easter you’re likely familiar with probably starts with how the Bible tells the story. As I show in my book, “God’s Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Marking of the Bible,” ancient dictation was bare bones and idiosyncratic. Someone might respond that while enslaved and formerly enslaved secretaries and copyists were present, they were still not authors. What we know is that Paul and Tertius wrote the Letter to the Romans together and that collaboration moves us into the realm of speculation. Saying that Paul “wrote Romans” when Romans itself claims that it was written by Tertius isn’t just speculative, it’s wrong.

Persons: Candida Moss, Edward Cadbury, John, Pontius Pilate, Jesus, Candida Moss Brian McConkey, Pilate, ” Pilate, It’s, Paul, Tertius, “, Mark, Peter’s “, Peter, ’, Roman enslavers, Varro, Martial, Roman, papyrologists Roger Bagnall, Raffaella, Douglas Sacha, ”, copyists, ” John Calvin, William Barclay, Tertius “, Barclay, Paul “, Tertius isn’t, Lord Jesus Christ, — Organizations: University of Birmingham, Notre Dame, CNN, Jewish, “ Institutes Locations: Judea

☆ Easter desserts that everyone will love
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Food Network Kitchen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Matt Armendariz / Food NetworkGET THE RECIPEPeanut Butter and Chocolate EggsForget dying Easter eggs — try making homemade chocolate eggs instead. Kate Mathis / Food NetworkGET THE RECIPEBunny Butt Snickerdoodle CookiesTurn store-bought cookie dough into an adorable and subtly spiced Easter treat. Matt Armendariz / Food NetworkGET THE RECIPEChocolate Pastel Easter Cake with a Chocolate Vermicelli NestMoist chocolate cake is frosted with an easy, fluffy buttercream and topped with a chocolate nest for this festive Easter dessert. Matt Armendariz / Food NetworkGET THE RECIPERaspberry-Lemon Easter CakeThis adorable cake is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Food NetworkGET THE RECIPEPavlova Eggs with Lemon CurdThis fun and beautiful Easter treat is deceptively easy to make.

Persons: Easter, Teri Lyn Fisher, Matt Armendariz, Renee Comet, Kate Mathis Organizations: Food

☆ 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

☆ I tried 30 of Trader Joe's seasonal spring products, and there are only a few I wouldn't buy again
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Savanna Swain-Wilson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +44 min

AdvertisementOther candy makers should take notes because Trader Joe's clearly knows what it's doing when it comes to chocolate. I fell in love with the lemon-and-ricotta ravioli's tasty fillingThis lemon-and-ricotta option is my new favorite Trader Joe's ravioli. These blueberry-and-lemon hand pies are the perfect pastry for the spring seasonThe blueberry-and-lemon hand pies from Trader Joe's look homemade. Trader Joe's Portuguese custard tarts totally lived up to the hypeTrader Joe's Portuguese custard tarts blew me away. If someone told me Trader Joe's lemon sheet cake came from a fancy bakery, I wouldn't question it for a second.

Persons: —, I've, Wilson, Joe's, they're, Savanna, I'm, seitan, pico, gallo, there's, Joe's didn't, Parmesan, Almond, Wilson I'm, graham, They'd, Meyer, munch, Wilson I've, Ina Garten, They're, madeleines, Florentine, Joe, Wilson It's, frosting, pasteis, nata, I'd, pretzels, Joe's dulce, dulce de Organizations: Service, Business, Wilson Locations: Savanna, Eastern Europe, Parmesan, Portugal

☆ Cocoa prices are rising so fast they are outpacing bitcoin — just in time for Easter
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Cocoa prices have nearly doubled in 2024 and are outpacing bitcoin in the last 12 months. Rising cocoa costs may drive up Easter chocolate prices. AdvertisementCocoa prices are so high that parents might wish to use their Easter chocolate as a tax write-off this year. Cocoa prices were already on a steady incline in 2023, but the product has nearly doubled in price so far this year, according to Bloomberg. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, Bean Organizations: Hershey, Cadbury, Service, Bloomberg, Business Locations: New York

☆ The cocoa market is so hot that the commodity has crushed bitcoin's 150% gain in the last year
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Cocoa prices are hovering near historic highs around $8,000 per metric ton. The chocolate commodity has outperformed bitcoin in the last year, gaining more than 200%. A bad harvest and lack of investment have sent cocoa prices higher over recent months. Related storiesRoughly three-fourths of the world's cocoa, per Bloomberg, comes from four countries in West Africa: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria. Last month, chocolate giants Hershey and Cadbury both warned of potential price hikes for consumers in light of the cocoa supply shortage.

Persons: —, that's Organizations: Service, Bloomberg, Processors, Reuters, International Cocoa Organization, Hershey, Cadbury Locations: West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria

☆ Cocoa prices just hit a record high. Here's what's driving the gains and what it means for chocolate makers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

If you think chocolate prices this Valentine's Day were more expensive than usual, it's not you. Year to date, futures contracts are up nearly 27%, with cocoa prices rising in six of the past seven weeks. Here's a breakdown of what's driving cocoa prices higher and how it impacts the investment case around two major chocolate stocks. Doshi thinks cocoa prices could sell off about 20%, taking them to around $4,500 to $4,800 per ton. In an interview with CNBC last week, he underscored the rising cocoa price outlook as the key driver for his lower rating.

Persons: Humza Hussain, El, Aakash Doshi, Doshi, Bernstein, Bruno Monteyne, … There's, Mondelez, Alexia Howard, Hershey, Michele Buck, Bernstein's Howard, Howard, I'd, Bryan Spillane, Morgan Stanley, Pamela Kaufman, Bank of America's Spillane Organizations: Asset Management, CNBC, Hershey, Citi, 2H, Street, Bank of America, Bank of, Cadbury Locations: Mondelez, El Niño, Ghana, Ivory, Nigeria, Europe

☆ Mars is buying Britain’s Hotel Chocolat in £534 million deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Mars is buying Hotel Chocolat in a deal that values Britain’s largest independent chocolate maker at £534 million ($661 million) and could boost its growth prospects outside of the United Kingdom. Hotel Chocolat was founded in 1993 by entrepreneurs Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris who “were on a mission to make chocolate exciting again,” according to its website. In the most recent financial year, Hotel Chocolat posted what it described as “disappointing” financial results. The company’s revenue declined 10% to £205 million ($254 million) and it reported a loss of £6.2 million ($7.7 million). “Hotel Chocolat, whilst expensive, is proper chocolate.

Persons: London CNN —, Jonathan De Mello, Angus Thirlwell, Peter Harris, “, Chocolat, Thirlwell, ”, Kraft, ” Susannah Streeter, Hargreaves Lansdown, Mars Organizations: London CNN, United Kingdom ., Chocolat’s, JDM Retail, Twitter, Kraft Foods, Mondelez, Mars, Hargreaves Locations: United Kingdom, Chocolat, London, Japan, Caribbean, American, Birmingham

☆ 10 things I wish I knew before I moved from New York to London
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Kim Davis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

CNN —It’s been nearly 20 years since I moved from New York to London. I don’t drink alcohol, so, when I first moved to the UK, I avoided the pubs for about a year. To my great surprise, I discovered that British pubs were nothing like I had imagined! “Yeah?” “Yeah!!!!! According to the UK Tea and Infusions Association, Brits drink over 100 million cups daily and 36 billion cups per year!

Persons: CNN — It’s, Leicester, Kim Davis, breathlessly, I’m, “, ”, I’ve, mickey ”, Sheldon Cooper, don’t, Hershey, et Walker, Eliza Doolittle, Little, it’s, Ariel, ” Don’t, There’s, Parinya, Abbott, Costello “ Who’s, Tummy, Mason, You’ll Organizations: CNN, Brit, British, Harrods, LIPTON Locations: New York, London, United States, United Kingdom, Yorkshire, Britain, Europe, “, America, York, Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon

New anti-obesity drugs have the potential to transform public health, while obliterating demand for products and services from the medical, food and fitness industries. Drugs developed by Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) and Eli Lilly (LLY.N) appear to be the first truly effective diet treatments. In one clinical trial, patients taking Eli Lilly’s soon-to-be-launched weight-loss drug lost about 50 pounds (23 kg). Only about a third of those who started taking the drugs for obesity were still doing so a year later, according to one analysis. Yet even as Novo, Lilly and others see their addressable markets expand, some companies will see theirs shrink.

Persons: Lilly, George Frey, Eli Lilly, Eli Lilly’s, Novo, Wegovy, Kraft Heinz, Burger, LSEG, Michael Farrell, Zimmer Biomet, Smith, Peter Thal Larsen, Sharon Lam, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Pharmacy, REUTERS, Reuters, TAM, Drugs, Alpha, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Cadbury, Mondelez, Fortune Business, Burger King, KFC, Yum Brands, Centers for Disease Control, Milken Institute, BMJ, Novo, Inspire Medical Systems, Novo Nordisk’s, WW International, Fashion, Thomson Locations: Provo , Utah, U.S, New, United States, Lilly, England

Reuters GraphicsReuters spoke to four shareholders that have launched activist campaigns who said that some big consumer goods companies are ripe for executive changes after failing to impress. Reuters GraphicsMany large consumer goods companies generally hold low levels of debt and are cash generative, said André Medeiros, managing director and Alvarez & Marsal's EMEA consumer and retail leader. 'ADVOCATING FOR MANAGEMENT CHANGE'Gianluca Ferrari, founding partner of investor Clearway Capital, said his firm had some consumer companies on its radar but declined to name them. He did not identify specific executives nor disclose the nature of his work with consumer companies. In October, Reuters reported that Peltz had approached former CEOs of consumer goods companies as candidates for the Unilever top job.

Persons: Danone's, Emmanuel Faber, David Samra, Samra, Alvarez, Marsal, André Medeiros, Nelson Peltz, Artisan's Samra, We're, Peltz, Heinz, Gianluca Ferrari, Ferrari, Clearway, Glanbia, Faber, Bluebell, Nicolas Ceron, Ceron, underperformance, Kraft Heinz, KHC.O, Andrew Hayes, Russell Reynolds, John Long, Korn, Long, Alan Jope departure's, Unilever's, Graeme Pitkethly, Hein Schumacher, Heinz's, Bill Johnson, Nelson, Richa Naidu, Matt Scuffham, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Artisan Partners, Reuters, Danone, Evian, Unilever, Consumer Products, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters Graphics, Marsal's EMEA, Billionaire, Artisan, Cadbury Schweppes, Heinz, Trian, Bluebell Capital, shareholders, Bluebell, Diageo, Russell Reynolds Associates, Thomson Locations: York, H.J, Frankfurt, Western Europe, North America

REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsChocolate makers are banking on the traditional resilience of their product to price increases. The data showed Hershey's sales volumes increasingly declined during the period as the company hiked prices. "We are seeing consumers starting to react more than before, I'd be very cautious with price increases," said Dan Sadler, a candy expert at U.S.-based market researcher IRI. Barry Callebaut (BARN.S), the world's biggest chocolate maker supplying most major brands including Nestle (NESN.S), doesn't expect any growth in sales volumes this year. Pennsylvania-based Hershey, is hoping that as it eases off the rate of price hikes, its sales volumes will reverse their current downtrend.

Persons: Nielsen, Dirk Van de, Luca Zaramella, Patrick Folan, Mike Blake, Mondelez, Hershey, Zaramella, Bernstein, I'd, Dan Sadler, Barry Callebaut, Hershey's, Michele Buck, Matt Scuffham, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Nielsen, Hershey, Reuters, Consumers, Cadbury, Barclays, REUTERS, IRI, Nestle, Rabobank, El, Kailyn, Thomson Locations: Europe, United States, North America, Encinitas , California, U.S, Pennsylvania, El Nino, West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kailyn Rhone, New York

"The increase in sugar and cocoa specifically is material," Mondelez CFO Luca Zaramella said in July. The data showed Hershey's sales volumes increasingly declined during the period as the company hiked prices. Barry Callebaut (BARN.S), the world's biggest chocolate maker supplying most major brands including Nestle (NESN.S), doesn't expect any growth in sales volumes this year. In the U.S., private label sales volumes grew nearly 9% in the year to mid-June despite near double-digit price rises, IRI data shows. Pennsylvania-based Hershey, is hoping that as it eases off the rate of price hikes, its sales volumes will reverse their current downtrend.

Persons: Mike Blake, Dirk Van de, Luca Zaramella, Patrick Folan, Mondelez, Hershey, Zaramella, Bernstein, I'd, Dan Sadler, Barry Callebaut, Hershey's, Michele Buck, Matt Scuffham, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: REUTERS, Hershey, Reuters, Consumers, Nielsen, Cadbury, Barclays, IRI, Nestle, Rabobank, El, Kailyn, Thomson Locations: Encinitas , California, Europe, North America, U.S, Pennsylvania, El Nino, West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kailyn Rhone, New York

The "AI for business" diploma offers training in data and AI for client leaders, practitioners, and WPP executives, according to WPP's website. The team work under AI expert Daniel Hulme who was appointed chief AI officer at WPP two years ago. While lawmakers and philosophers alike still debate whether content produced by generative AI models amounts to anything like human creativity, advertisers have already begun using the technology in their promotional campaigns. Unilever, which owns more than 400 brands including Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, has its own generative AI technology that can write product descriptions for retailers' websites and digital commerce sites, it said. The company's TRESemmé haircare brand has used its AI content generator for written content and its automation tool for visual content on Amazon.co.uk (AMZN.O).

Persons: Mark Read, Read, we've, Mondelez, Shah Rukh Khan, Daniel Hulme, Nestle, Gandon, Ray, Johannes Vermeer's, Aaron Rajan, Nestle's Gandon, Martin Sorrell, You've, Ben King, Richa Naidu, Martin Coulter, Matt Scuffham, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Nestle, Unilever, Marketing, Investment, Reuters, WPP, Oreo, Cadbury, Bollywood, YouTube, Facebook, University of Oxford, Global, Google, Go, Market Technology, Consumer, Walmart, Carrefour, Kroger, Thomson Locations: Africa, India, London, Swiss, Okta

But so far, IAG had not seen "any weakness into Q3 and Q4", finance chief Nicholas Cadbury added. In May, it said it expected annual profit above 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion), and analysts' consensus forecast stands at 2.8 billion euros. For the three months to the end of June, the group recorded an operating profit before exceptional items of 1.25 billion euros, compared to the 895 million euros analysts were on average expecting. "These numbers will help push expectations for this year strongly through the 3 billion euro operating profit level," Goodbody analysts said. ($1 = 0.9106 euros)Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate Holton and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Luis Gallego, IAG, Nicholas Cadbury, Sarah Young, Kate Holton, Mark Potter Organizations: British Airways, Air France, KLM AIRF.PA, Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Thomson Locations: Iberia, Aer, IAG, Europe

LONDON/NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - Chocolate and coffee makers including Italy's Lavazza and Cadbury-maker Mondelez are concerned about the "practicalities" of a new European Union law aimed at stopping deforestation. Several major investors told Reuters last month that concerns about their exposure to the issue could lead them to quit consumer goods makers with "risky" supply chains. Oreo-maker Mondelez told Reuters it is "not clear on how they (EU authorities) will control or implement this" law. "It is entirely possible to trace coffee supply chains, despite their complexity. Italian confectionary group Ferrero wants the EU to provide specific guidance on compliance for each commodity because supply chains vary greatly between them.

Persons: Italy's, Mondelez, Giuseppe Lavazza, Lavazza, Christophe Hansen, Dirk Van de, Solidaridad, Julia Christian, Fern, Van de, Ferrero, Snorre, Matthew Scuffham, Catherine Evans Organizations: Cadbury, European Union, Reuters, European Commission, EU, Thomson Locations: EU

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