The Fairtrade Association of Australia & New Zealand (FTAANZ) has urged all Aussies to show off their swap to Fairtrade Certified and fair trade products this Fair Trade Fortnight, whether it be their morning coffee, afternoon cuppa, chocolate treat, their t-shirt or even the Mother’s Day gift they give. Fair Trade Fortnight (7-22 May) is Australia’s biggest annual celebration of all things fair trade, recognising the life-changing difference fair trade makes to the lives of more than six... ...Read more »

With the Easter bunny looming large, comedian and Jenny Craig ambassador Magda Szubanski, who has shed 25kg with the program, offered her tips this Easter for avoiding overindulging in the season’s biggest temptation – chocolate. “The Jenny Craig program has taught me some nifty tricks which allow me to socialize and have fun but still keep the weight off,” Magda said. “Easter can still be fun. You don’t need to completely avoid sweet treats such as chocolate, just learn to consume... ...Read more »

Cadbury has released a newly reformulated range of Mousse chocolate, in chocolate, caramel and hazelnut flavours. The new Mousse blocks feature large triangular instead of square pieces, with more up-market, less playful packaging than standard Cadbury Dairy Milk blocks, aiming at a luxury/indulgence buyer and the after-dinner market. The new product will be advertised with the tag line “So delicious it’s best kept hidden”. Cadbury Dairy Milk Mousse is available from Coles, Woolworths,... ...Read more »

Chocolate and cocoa supply giant Barry Callebaut has announced plans to strengthen its offering of healthier confectionary alternatives, with plans to reduce saturated and hydrogenated fats, and practically eliminate the use of trans-fatty acids. The company, which supplies many of the world’s largest food companies with their confectionary raw materials and ingredients, said that it was developing healthier confectionary applications in response to growing demand for products with lower saturated... ...Read more »

Chocolate giant Lindt & Sprüngli has won its trademark dispute with Austrian company Franz Hauswirth GmbH, with the Vienna Commercial Court ruling that Hauswirth must stop producing and selling its Easter bunny, which is wrapped in gold foil and carries a red or red-white-red ribbon. The Court confirmed that there is a risk of confusion with the ‘Gold Bunny’ trademark of Lindt & Sprüngli, which the company registered as an EU three-dimensional Community Trademark in 2000. “The... ...Read more »

Lindt has recalled its 16g Lindor Milk Easter Egg after some of the products were found to have been filled with peanut butter instead of the labelled milk filling. The mislabelled eggs, which have a best before of 30 June 2011, have been distributed nationally through supermarkets and department stores, and are included in a large variety of Lindt’s Easter offerings, including the Lindt Lindor Assorted Egg Bags and Egg Tubes, the Lindt Gold Bunny and Friends Cube and Tin Tube, and Lindt Lindor... ...Read more »

Looking to spice up your sex life? Try adding ginseng and saffron to your diet. Both are proven performance boosters, according to a new scientific review of natural aphrodisiacs conducted by University of Guelph researchers. Indulge in wine and chocolate, too, but know that their amorous effects are likely all in your head. Stay away from the more obscure Spanish fly and Bufo toad. While purported to be sexually enhancing, they produced the opposite result and can even be toxic. Those are among... ...Read more »

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), The Hershey Company, and the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) have announced a first-of-its kind program to use mobile technology to deliver practical information on agricultural and social programs to rural cocoa farmers, and enable the farmers to ask questions and provide feedback. The program, called “CocoaLink – Connecting Cocoa Communities,” will make use of Ghana’s rapidly developing mobile phone infrastructure and build on the existing successful... ...Read more »

Edible oils giant Cargill has announced a new product innovation: cocoa powder with a greatly improved ability to mix into cold drinks. The new cocoa powder, launching next year as part of the Gerkens cocoa powders range, has double the wettability – the speed with which cocoa disappears below the surface of th cold liquid – and will disperse through the liquid evenly. The company said that, crucial to the discovery, the performance would be maintained throughout the product’s shelf... ...Read more »

Nestlé Australia has announced that production of Aero has returned to Australia, with up to 1000 tonnes of the bubble-filled chocolate to be produced annually at the company’s factory in Campbellfield, Victoria, as part of a $12 million site upgrade. The Aero bars and blocks, now available on supermarket shelves, feature a new recipe especially designed to appeal to Australian and New Zealand consumers, and are free of artificial colours. Aero was originally launched in the UK in 1935, and... ...Read more »