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Barry Callebaut leverages its deep scientific knowledge of the cacaofruit and the fruit’s supportive health effect, by presenting the first nutraceutical fruit drink “Elix”. According to the company, the new cacaofruit elixir – made from 100% pure cacaofruit – has a zesty fruity taste. By unlocking the power of science, the elixir is uniquely crafted to preserve the nutrients of the cacaofruit. The cacaofruit naturally contains the required amount of flavanols to optimize the blood flow across the entire body. It is a good source of iron, magnesium and potassium.
Besides the 100% pure cacaofruit elixir, combinations with herbs and other fruits can be explored to enrich the range with beautiful taste combinations and additional nutrients. The nutraceutical fruit drink contributes to personal as well environmental health. Since it upcycles the whole cacaofruit, Elix positively impacts nature and communities.

Fi Global is enabling ingredients suppliers to join the online sourcing revolution with a year-round Sample Store platform in partnership with 1-2-Taste – in addition to a dedicated Sample Store for exhibitors at Fi Europe Online.  

1-2-Taste is an online B2B food ingredients platform based in the Netherlands that has made its name as a disruptor of traditional ingredient sales methods. The platform allows R&D experts to identify ingredients and obtain samples to try out, and buyers to place orders, without leaving their desks. The concept is especially helpful to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) because they can order ingredients in small quantities that are not commercially viable through traditional sales channels.

Through its partnership with 1-2-Taste, Food Ingredients Global is integrating two Sample Stores into the heart of its portfolio of exhibitions, information services, and digital solutions, which have a global audience of industry professions established over more than 30 years. The Sample Store on the Fi Europe Online platform gives exhibitors maximum expose to more than 12,000 online attendees over the duration of the online event, which runs from 22 November to 2 December 2021.

The year-round Sample Store concept allows subscribers to have their Sample Store featured on the Ingredients Network directory and news portal, which attracts more than 40,000 unique buyers a month. Suppliers can register for a Sample Store via the Fi Global website. They receive support to set up their branded Sample Store on 1-2-Taste, which can feature up to ten samples. Customers who visit the online shop can browse through information on the samples – including technical documents, videos, quality certifications, and other materials – at their convenience, then order samples with a click. There is also an option for suppliers to sell directly through the Sample Store.

International, inspiring and above all personal – that was the 36th edition of Anuga 2021 in Cologne. With over 70,000 visitors from 169 countries and more than 4,600 exhibitors from 98 nations, the leading global trade fair for food and beverages once again demonstrated that trade fairs of these dimensions are possible again.  

“We are delighted with this result. It underlines the global significance of Anuga and the trust that is placed in us as a trade fair organisation. Furthermore, it also shows that Germany as a trade fair location continues to hold a leading and attractive position in terms of the global competition,” explained Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse. “Also the hybrid approach worked very well and proved very popular. In the scope of Anuga @home, we were able to offer above all those people, who were not able to travel to the trade fair, a good opportunity to inform themselves about specialised themes and engage in intensive networking,” Böse added.
Anuga also set a benchmark in terms of its level of internationality: 97% of the exhibitors came from abroad. At 76%, the degree of internationality of the visitors remained at a constant level (2019: 75%). “People from 169 nations – that is a strong signal and shows at the same time how much the international food industry needs trade fairs to do business again. Our exhibitors, who reported about outstanding customer dialogues and the high quality of the trade visitors, also recognised this fact. The discussions with the buyers also confirmed how highly they estimate the time for intense, personal dialogues with their customers. Anuga 2021 simply made the international world of food personal again. And this euphoria and spirit of optimism was noticeable all over the trade fair,” emphasised Oliver Frese, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH.
Above all the quality and preparation of the buyers as well as the serious interest in generating business again convinced the exhibitors. Countless buyers with high decision-making competence from the trade and food service, including the relevant top buyers of important chain stores attended the trade fair in Cologne. An initial evaluation of the visitor survey shows that over 70% of the respondents use Anuga to groom existing and build up new business relationships.
As a hybrid event, Anuga also offered a digital platform for the exhibitors, visitors and media representatives: Anuga @home. In addition to intensive networking, above all the digitally streamed event and congress programme comprising of a variety of lectures, discussions and presentations by renowned trade experts and companies of the food industry met with great interest. In total, 353 formats with more than 6,380 broadcasting minutes were streamed over three days of the trade fair. Particularly the live streams of the two conferences, the Newtrition X and the New Food Conference, were very popular. The presentations and the networking offers of Anuga @home will also be available on-demand after the trade fair.
 

The Barry Callebaut Group just inaugurated its relocated Chocolate Academy™ Center Dubai, which is now at the foot of the Burj Khalifa, one of the world's most iconic landmarks. According to the company, this new location and facility serves as a creative platform where chefs and artisans can showcase and develop their talent and skills. As Center Dubai is part of the wider Chocolate Academy™ Center network with 24 academies across the globe, it will be the premier platform for bringing renowned chefs to Dubai to inspire, train and advise local artisans.

With a team of dedicated chefs, Center Dubai plays an important role in inspiring and educating the chocolate industry and introducing new techniques to artisans, pastry chefs, confectioners, bakers and caterers. It also plays an important role in driving innovation as consumption patterns shift towards premiumization and new concepts in terms of design, colour and flavours. Courses and events with physical attendance will resume as of October 21, 2021.

The Barry Callebaut Group officially inaugurated its new chocolate factory in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić was present at the inauguration, on the invitation of CEO Peter Boone. The visit, including an inauguration ceremony and a factory tour, was conducted in compliance with the strict Covid-19 measures that Barry Callebaut applies to maintain a high level of safety for its people.

The state-of-the-art factory, which represents a total investment of € 55 m, has an initial annual production capacity of over 50,000 tonnes of chocolate. It allows Barry Callebaut to supply customers with a wide range of chocolate, compound and filling products. The factory will serve as a regional hub from which Barry Callebaut can address the rapidly growing chocolate markets of Southeastern Europe and beyond.

German retail confectionery sales were far above the level of the previous year for the first eight months of 2021. The market researchers at Nielsen reported in their confectionery monitor (YTD – through the week of 5/9/2021) an increase in revenues of 4.1% up to € 9.784 bn with stagnating sales volume (+ 0.1%) of 1.169 m tonnes (source: Nielsen Market Track; grocery retail + drug stores). In the month of August revenues rose in comparison to the previous year by a significant 7.1% (sales volume + 1.3%).

Once again, the category of salty snacks showed the strongest growth in the first eight months of the year with an increase of 7.4% up to € 2.587 bn (sales volume + 4.4%; 310,100 t). Earnings with chocolate products also enjoyed solid development, with € 4.377 bn representing an increase of 4.5% (sales volume + 0.2%; 410,500 t). The category of sweet baked goods exceeded the previous year‘s value by only 1.4% (sales volume - 4.2%; 208,200 t) with € 1.246 bn. Sugar confectionery revenues of € 1.574 bn (- 0.1%) were stable in comparison with the same period in the previous year (sales volume - 1.7%; 240,500 t).

A look at the individual sales channels revealed that aside from small supermarkets (- 5.0%), every other channel enjoyed gains in confectionery revenue (YTD – through the week of 5/9/2021): small consumer markets (+ 8.2%), large consumer markets (+ 8.1%), drug stores (+ 8.2%), large supermarkets (+ 2.3%), and discounters (+ 0.4%).