The sweet spot for candy in Indonesia

Perfetti Van Melle Indonesia PT is known for the Mentos brand in Indonesia.

A large variety of affordable sugar confectionery, coupled with marketing efforts from leading manufacturers in Indonesia has been driving sales in this product category in Indonesia, says research consultancy Euromonitor in its Confectionery in Indonesia report.

Perfetti Van Melle Indonesia PT continues to lead sugar confectionery with a value share of 23% in 2016. The company is known for the Mentos, Alpenliebe, Fruit-tella, Marbels, Golia, Chox and Chupa Chups brands. Over the review period of 2011 to 2016 the company invested heavily in new product development as well as marketing in order to maintain its leadership of the category, Euromonitor said.

Sugar confectionery is expected to increase at a value CAGR of 4% at constant 2016 prices over the forecast period from 2016 to 2021, driven by the Indonesian consumer characteristics such as the willingness  to try new products. Euromonitor believes that manufacturers are likely to work on brand differentiation in the face of tough competition. They are also expected to launch new products regularly, while at the same time maintaining stable prices.

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Buy the Euromonitor Confectionery in Indonesia report

Nestlé to remove all artificial colours and flavours from chocolate

Source: Nestlé.

Nestlé USA will remove artificial flavours and FDA-certified colours like Red 40 and Yellow 5 from all of its chocolate candy products by the end of 2015. The move will affect more than 250 products and 10 brands. Products will begin appearing on store shelves by mid-2015, and will be identified by a No Artificial Flavors or Colors claim featured on-pack.

“Nestlé is the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company and our commitment to remove artificial flavours and certified colours in our chocolate candy brands is an important milestone,” said Doreen Ida, President, Nestlé USA Confections & Snacks. 

“We know that candy consumers are interested in broader food trends around fewer artificial ingredients. As we thought about what this means for our candy brands, our first step has been to remove artificial flavours and colours without affecting taste or increasing the price. We’re excited to be the first major US candy manufacturer to make this commitment.”

Ingredients from natural sources can include annatto, which comes from the seeds found in the fruit from the achiote tree, Red 40 and Yellow 5 to replace the BUTTERFINGER centre. In CRUNCH, natural vanilla flavour will replace the artificial vanillin.

“We never compromise on taste. When making these changes to more than 75 recipes, maintaining the great taste and appearance consumers expect from the chocolate brands they know and love is our #1 priority,” said Leslie Mohr, Nutrition, Health and Wellness manager, Nestlé Confections & Snacks. “We conducted consumer testing to ensure the new recipe delivers on our high standards for taste and appearance.”
According to Mohr, this change affects Nestlé’s current portfolio of chocolate brands including NESTLE CRUNCH, BUTTERFINGER, BABY RUTH, SKINNY COW, RAISINETS, GOOBERS, SNO CAPS, 100 GRAND, OH HENRY and CHUNKY. 

Going forward, all newly launched chocolate and non-chocolate candy products (gummies, sours, etc.) introduced by Nestlé USA will be made without artificial flavours or colours. Additionally, Nestlé USA is actively pursuing the removal of caramel colouring from its chocolate products. Caramel colouring is an exempt-from-certification colour additive, which is used in nine of the more than 250 chocolate products.This follows similar moves by Nestlé in other parts of the world, the company said.

Exclusive Ferrero Rocher pralines available at the Pasticceria Ferrero, in Singapore for the festive season

Launch headliners Qi Yu Wu and Joanne Peh pose for pictures.

Ferrero Rocher has launched its first Southeast Asia boutique, Pasticceria Ferrero, the only store of its kind in the world this festive season, at Wisma Atria along Orchard Road in Singapore. 

Before the official launch.

The boutique allows visitors to assemble customised boxes of chocolates with new and exclusive variants of the Ferrero pralines that are only available during this time of year.

Visitors can create their own customised gift boxes with pralines only available at the boutique during this festive season.

Leonardo Perrone de Almeida, Marketing Director, South East Asia, Ferrero Asia, spoke of the brand's long tradition in the fine art of gifting. "As the number one chocolate brand in Singapore, Ferrero certainly has a special place in the heart of Singaporeans. This year we wanted to offer Singaporeans.. a piece of our tradition and heritage to South East Asia," he said. 

Guests at the launch of the Pasticceria Ferrero were shown how each Ferrero Rocher praline is made by Luca Dellapiana, a Ferrero Chef from Italy. The seven-step process begins with filling the two halves of the wafer sphere with a creamy chocolate filling. A handpicked premium hazelnut is then popped in, and the two wafer halves are joined into the familiar spherical shape. The wafer sphere is then dipped in chocolate, which is tempered at 45 degrees Celsius, then cooled to 29 degrees to give it the crunch and the shine. The praline is then rolled in crushed hazelnuts, after which the whole is dipped in tempered chocolate again, and then chilled for a few minutes before it is ready to eat. 

The Rocherones are available in 'giant' (left) and 'mini' (right) sizes. Both Rocherones and the Christmas pyramids (below) are Christmas Limited Edition offerings. 

Live demonstrations by Chef Dellapiana and Chef Alessandria Davide, also in Singapore only for a limited time, will be conducted for the next four weekends, till 1 December, at the Pasticceria Ferrero. Chef Dellapiana's original creations are also on show at the boutique: look out for the Christmas Limited Edition Rocherones, which are shaped like a giant-sized classic praline and filled with smaller pralines. The Christmas Pyramids are also only available during this time. 

Some of the exclusive pralines available only during the festive season at the Pasticceria Ferrero. 

The special pralines only available for Christmas include: 

• Ferrero Tenderly White, a white chocolate praline with a hazelnut filling.
• Ferrero Capuccino, crispy wafer specialty with a smooth coffee filling
• Ferrero Tenderly Nougat, milk chocolate praline, creamy nougat and a whole hazelnut.
• Ferrero Manderly, a crisp hazelnut-covered specialty, with a smooth hazelnut filling and almond centre.
• Mon Chéri: Launched in 1956, this praline marked the beginning of Ferrero history in the world of boxed chocolates. The recipe combines dark chocolate, liqueur, and cherry. 
• Pocket Coffee, available from 1968, a dark chocolate praline filled with liquid espresso.
• Kusschen White: 'küsschen' means 'little kiss'; a white chocolate praline with hazelnut filling.
• Kusschen Milk, a milk chocolate praline with hazelnut filling.
• Kusschen Dark, a milk and dark chocolate praline with hazelnut filling.
• Raffaello: Introduced in 1989, Raffaello consists of a whole almond in a creamy filling enclosed in a crispy shell, covered in flakes of coconut.
• Ferrero Rondnoir: a crisp dark chocolate covered specialty, with a smooth filling and a dark chocolate and hazelnut centre.

Ferrero is also the company behind Nutella, Kinder and Tic Tac. Read about Peh and Qi's thoughts on Ferrero Rocher and chocolate here.