Africa

Puratos has ramped up its presence in Africa. Pic: GettyImages/Ridofranz

Puratos boosts food security in Africa with expanded presence

By Gill Hyslop

The global ingredients specialist has opened subsidiaries in Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia and Nigeria to cement customer relationships and localise production using indigenous raw materials, which will lessen the continent’s reliance on food imports and...

Cocoa origin labeling enables consumers to avoid chocolate made via child slavery, says the Food Empowerment Project.  But the International Cocoa Initiative warns that boycotts could make things worse.

Food Empowerment Project urges transparency on child slavery

West Africa boycott needed for slave-free chocolate, says consumer group

By Oliver Nieburg

The Food Empowerment Project has called on US chocolate makers to list cocoa country of origin on pack so consumers can avoid brands that use cocoa from West Africa, where it claims unlawful child labor is common.

Cadbury Kenya to be sales & marketing arm for East Africa, but will no longer produce goods

Mondelēz abandons Kenyan manufacturing

By Oliver Nieburg

Mondelēz International will stop manufacturing from its Cadbury Kenya plant at the end of this month as it shifts capacity for Cadbury Drinking Chocolate to Egypt.

Does the long-term future of cocoa lie outside West Africa? Photo Credit: WCF

Origins

Could West Africa lose its cocoa crown?

By Oliver Nieburg

ConfectioneryNews asks industry leaders if cocoa production will gradually move closer to the burgeoning chocolate markets of China and Brazil or whether West Africa will always be the king of cocoa.

“Kerry’s Durban centre will support our global customers who are expanding their regional footprint...

Irish dairy group beefs up African ingredients presence

By Lynda Searby

The opening last week of a regional development and application centre in Durban, South Africa, signals a clear intent by Kerry Foods to ramp up its focus on the fast growing sub-Saharan African region.

GEA notes demand from African start-ups for lolly machinery

GEA notes demand from African start-ups for lolly machinery

By Jane Byrne

Specific taste preferences and lower volume needs are factors behind the hike in demand from small confectionery producers in developing countries, particularly in the African region, for mid-range versions of established machinery, notes GEA.

Baobab fruit approved as food ingredient in US

Baobab fruit approved as food ingredient in US

By Rod Addy

Baobab fruit pulp has been given the green light of approval for use in some food and drink applications, with the US FDA signing off GRAS status for the vitamin C-rich ingredient.