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☆ Scottie Scheffler: Why Grandma’s chocolate pie and staying humble is the perfect recipe for the world No. 1
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Don Riddell | Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The American returns to TPC Sawgrass on Thursday bidding to become the first player ever to retain golf’s unofficial “fifth major” – The Players Championship. His seventh PGA Tour title came almost a year to the day since his last triumph on the circuit – also by five strokes – at TPC Sawgrass. 1 is such a fan of her chocolate cream pie that the head chef at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse served the family his rendition of the treat earlier this month. I keep telling her to cut me smaller pieces of the pie, but that pie just keeps getting bigger. “Golf does a good job of keeping you humble and motivated.”Scheffler laughs with tournament host Woods after winning the Hero World Challenge - an unofficial event on the PGA Tour - in December.

Persons: Scottie Scheffler, Arnold Palmer, Mary Delorenzo, –, Scheffler, Grandma, ” Scheffler, CNN Sport’s Don Riddell, “, Chris Condon, “ It’s, ”, ” Matt Voskuil, Tiger Woods, it’s, It’s, didn’t, Woods, Mike Ehrmann, Quizzed, Meredith, I’m, I’ve, golf’s Organizations: CNN, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Sunday, TPC, PGA, you’re, University of Texas, Cowboys Locations: Dallas

Hershey is cautioning on its 2024 profit growth as the company contends with rising cocoa costs that are leading to higher prices for chocolate. Cocoa futures prices have doubled over the past year and hit an all-time high of $5,874 per metric ton on Friday. Bad weather in West Africa is being blamed for damaging crop yields, which is pushing cocoa prices higher. But with inflation concerns still top of mind, many shoppers are pulling back on their spending and eyeing rising food prices cautiously. Hershey Co. anticipates its full-year earnings per share being relatively flat, partly due to higher cocoa and sugar costs.

Persons: Hershey, ”, Thomas Palmer, Michele Buck, ” Buck, Steven Voskuil Organizations: Citi, Hershey, Hershey Co Locations: West Africa

☆ Consumer Reports finds more lead, cadmium in chocolate, urges change at Hershey
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Hershey's chocolates are pictured for sale on a store shelf in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. July 19, 2017. The magazine said 16 of the 48 chocolate products from various makers that its scientists tested recently in seven categories - dark chocolate, milk chocolate, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and mixes for brownies, chocolate cake and hot chocolate - contained potentially harmful levels of lead, cadmium or both. The Consumer Reports testing followed its findings last December that 23 of 28 tested dark chocolate bars contained excessive lead or cadmium, including Hershey products sold under its own brand and the Lily's and Scharffen Berger brands. The magazine is again petitioning Hershey to reduce heavy metals in its chocolate. Consumer Reports food policy director Brian Ronholm said Hershey, as a "leading and popular brand," should commit to eliminating "dangerous levels" of heavy metals from its chocolate products, making them safer for consumers.

Persons: Carlo Allegri, Joe's, Scharffen Berger, Hershey, Brian Ronholm, Steve Voskuil, Voskuil, Christopher Gindlesperger, Jonathan Stempel, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Hershey Co, Nestle, Starbucks, YORK, Hershey, Consumer, Walmart, Target, National Confectioners Association, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, New York City , New York, U.S, New York

☆ Cocoa prices are soaring. Here’s what that means for your chocolate
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —If you have a sweet tooth, take note: Cocoa prices have been soaring — and that could drive chocolate prices higher. Because of that, there is an “outsize impact of the region’s weather patterns on world cocoa prices and supplies,” according to Gro Intelligence’s post. Tony's Chocolonely welcomes higher cocoa prices. Petra Figueroa/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images“We are very happy that cocoa prices are rising,” said Pascal Baltussen, chief of impact and operations at Tony’s. “Cocoa prices have been way too low for West African cocoa farmers to earn a living income.”Cocoa futures are used to determine the prices paid to farmers for cocoa in Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Persons: El, Paul, Christophe Gateau, Niño, ”, Intelligence’s, Tony's Chocolonely, Petra Figueroa, Pascal Baltussen, Alex Assanvo, Côte, “ Price, Tony’s, Baltussen, Steven Voskuil, Hershey, “, we’ll, —, Laura Paddison, Rachel Ramirez Organizations: New, New York CNN, Rabobank, International Cocoa, Getty, Cocoa Organization, Gro Intelligence, Hershey Locations: New York, Europe, Asia, Agboville, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Amsterdam, Tony’s, NIQ

HERSHEY, Pennsylvania, March 23 (Reuters) - Hershey Co (HSY.N) is looking to reduce "trace" amounts of lead and cadmium in its chocolate, chief financial officer Steve Voskiul told Reuters on Wednesday, after Consumer Reports found that some dark chocolate bars had potentially harmful levels of the heavy metals. Consumer Reports found that Hershey's Lily's extremely dark chocolate 85% cocoa bar was high in lead and cadmium. Its Hershey's Special Dark mildly sweet chocolate and Lily's extra dark chocolate 70% were also high in lead according to the report. Voskuil said the manufacturing and cleaning process for cocoa beans removes the "vast majority" of lead and cadmium. Hershey is "evaluating" if it can remove more of the metals through additional cleaning of cocoa beans or alternate sourcing, he said.

HERSHEY, Pennsylvania, March 22 (Reuters) - Hershey Co (HSY.N) is looking to reduce "trace" amounts of lead and cadmium in its chocolate, chief financial officer Steve Voskiul told Reuters on Wednesday, after Consumer Reports found that some dark chocolate bars had potentially harmful levels of the heavy metals. Consumer Reports, a nonprofit consumer group, tested chocolate bars including those made by Hershey late last year and found that some of them contained possibly harmful levels of lead, cadmium or both for people who eat more than one ounce per day. Consumer Reports found that Hershey's Lily's extremely dark chocolate 85% cocoa bar was high in lead and cadmium. Its Hershey's Special Dark mildly sweet chocolate and Lily's extra dark chocolate 70% were also high in lead according to the report. Voskuil said the manufacturing and cleaning process for cocoa beans removes the "vast majority" of lead and cadmium.

☆ Bath & Body Works adds director, Third Point backs off proxy fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Shoppers wait in line outside a Bath and Body Works retail store in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., December 8, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File PhotoNEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) on Monday named veteran financial executive and board member Thomas Kuhn as a new director, ending a potential challenge from billionaire investor Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point. "Tom’s 35 year history as a respected financial and legal advisor, including working with consumer companies, will bring an important perspective to Bath & Body Works as it focuses on its key strategic initiatives to maximize shareholder value," Bath & Body Works board chair Sarah Nash said in a statement. Bath & Body Works, which is valued at roughly $10 billion, has been operating as a standalone company since 2021. At Bath & Body Works the company was advised by law firm Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, financial services company J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, proxy solicitor Innisfree M&A Inc and public relations firm Joele Frank.

☆ Bath & Body Works adds second new director amid pressure from Third Point
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Last week Bath & Body Works added Lucy Brady, a senior executive at Conagra Brands (CAG.N) and consumer products veteran to the board, expanding the group to 11 from 10 members. Voskuil and Brady's appointments come weeks after Third Point, which owns a 6% stake in the company, hinted it might push for board seats. In December Third Point announced its stake in a regulatoryfiling and criticized the company's high costs, includinggenerous executive pay. Bath & Body Works, best known for selling soaps, candles andlotions, is valued at $10 billion. Third Point spent an average of $38.16 per share on thestock which is now trading at $40.76.

☆ Zero-Based Budgeting, Currency Hedges Among the Tools CFOs Can Use to Weather Headwinds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Nina Trentmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

One area to which finance chiefs scouting for efficiencies have turned is zero-based budgeting, a tool that gained popularity early in the pandemic and requires finance executives to question and justify each line item in every new budget period. Reese’s peanut-butter cup maker Hershey Co., based in Pennsylvania, regularly goes through every line of its profit and loss statement, Finance Chief Steve Voskuil said. Detroit-based General Motors Co. is slowing and in some areas even freezing hiring, and homing in on other fixed costs, Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson has said. Facing high inflation and an uncertain outlook, finance chiefs are using zero-based budgeting to lower expenses in areas including operations, real estate, logistics, sales and marketing. Finance executives at large U.S. companies, including Coca-Cola Co. and materials-science company Dow Inc., are increasing their foreign-currency hedges and covering longer time periods.

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