Latest news with #DEE-ANNDURBIN
Japan Today
6 days ago
- Business
- Japan Today
Hershey and other chocolate makers hike prices as cocoa remains near record highs
By DEE-ANN DURBIN Here's the good news: The Hershey Co. says it's not raising prices for Halloween candy this year. But here's the bad news: Hershey and other chocolate makers are continuing to hike prices, saying a volatile cocoa market gives them no choice. Hershey, the maker of Reese's, Whoppers, barkThins and other chocolate candies, said Wednesday that it will be raising U.S. retail prices later this fall. In some cases, pack sizes will get smaller; in others, list prices will rise. The average price increase will be in the low double-digit percentages. 'This change is not related to tariffs or trade policies. It reflects the reality of rising ingredient costs including the unprecedented cost of cocoa,' Hershey said in a statement. Hershey stressed that the price increases won't apply to products specially packaged for Halloween. On Tuesday, Swiss chocolatier Lindt said it raised prices by 15.8% in the first half of this year. The company said it was able to offset some of the higher cost of cocoa with long-term contracts but had to pass much of it on to consumers. 'The development of the global chocolate market in the first half of 2025 was a continuation of what we saw in 2024, with cocoa prices remaining close to record highs,' said Adalbert Lechner, Lindt's CEO, in a conference call with investors. Cloetta, a Swedish confectionary company, told investors last week that it raised chocolate prices in the second quarter. And Nestle raised U.S. prices for products like Toll House chocolate chips in the spring. Cocoa prices have more than doubled over the past two years due to poor weather and disease in West Africa, which supplies more than 70% of the world's cocoa. Cocoa futures, which are binding contracts for a specific quantity of cocoa, stood at $7,380 per metric ton on Wednesday, according to the International Cocoa Organization, which releases a daily average of prices in London and New York. That's down from December's peak of $11,984, but it's still 121% higher than two years ago. And the situation remains volatile. According to the International Cocoa Organization, prices surged in early June on concerns about production in Ivory Coast but eased on optimistic forecasts for production in Ghana and Latin America. They rose again in late June after heavy rains in West Africa, which could worsen the outbreak of diseases that harm crops. 'It's almost a bit dangerous to comment on this because it's changing so fast,' Cloetta Chief Financial Officer Frans Ryden said last week in a conference call with investors. 'This is something that's moving hugely up and down all the time.' Meanwhile, prices have been rising on store shelves. The average unit price of a chocolate bar in the U.S. in July 2021 was $2.43, according to Nielsen IQ, a market research company. As of last week, it was $3.45, a 41% increase. That's hurting customer demand. Nielsen said unit sales of chocolate fell 1.2% in the year ending July 12. Tariffs could also impact U.S. prices. President Donald Trump threatened a 21% tariff on cocoa and other products from Ivory Coast in April, for example, but then paused the tariffs' implementation. The National Confectioners Association is asking the Trump administration to protect cocoa from tariffs. The group says the U.S. imports nearly $4.4 billion in chocolate, cocoa and candies each year, and the association's members export nearly $2 billion in American-made chocolates and candy annually. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
7 days ago
- Health
- Japan Today
What to know about soda sweeteners as sugar returns to American Coke
By DEE-ANN DURBIN and JONEL ALECCIA President Donald Trump teased the announcement last week, but the Coca-Cola Co confirmed it Tuesday: a cane sugar-sweetened version of the beverage maker's trademark soda will be released in the U.S. this fall. For decades, Coke and the makers of other soft drinks have generally used high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners in their products manufactured in the U.S. But American consumers are increasingly looking for food and drinks with fewer and more natural ingredients, and beverage companies are responding. PepsiCo and Dr Pepper have sold versions of their flagship sodas sweetened with cane sugar since 2009. Coca-Cola has sold Mexican Coke — which uses cane sugar — in the U.S. since 2005, but it's positioned a trendy alternative and sold in glass bottles. Coke with cane sugar will likely be more widely available. Here are some frequently asked questions about the sweeteners in U.S. sodas: Many consumers know that consuming too many sweets can negatively affect their health, but soda drinkers sometimes debate if either cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup is better (or worse) than the other. The short answer is that it doesn't make a difference, said Marion Nestle, one of the nation's top nutrition experts and professor emeritus at New York University. High fructose corn syrup is made of the simple sugars glucose and fructose in liquid form. Cane sugar, also known as sucrose, is made of glucose and fructose bonded, but quickly split, Nestle explained. Both are still sugars, with about the same amount of calories. Whether a can of Coca-Cola contains one or the other, it will still be a sugary drink with about the same amount of calories and the same potential to increase well-documented health problems from obesity and diabetes to tooth decay. High fructose corn syrup costs less. According to price data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the wholesale price of HFCS-55, the type of corn syrup most commonly used in beverages, averaged 49.4 cents per pound last year. The average wholesale price of refined cane sugar was 60.1 cents per pound, while the average wholesale price of refined beet sugar was 51.7 cents per pound. But high fructose corn syrup has advantages beyond price. According to a 2008 paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, high fructose corn syrup is more stable than sugar when added to acidic beverages, and it can be pumped directly from delivery trucks into storage and mixing tanks. Tariffs are one reason. The U.S. has had barriers on sugar imports almost back to its founding; the first went into place in 1789, according to the Cato Institute, a think tank that advocates free markets. Since the passage of the Farm Bill in 1981, the U.S. has had a system in place that raises duties on sugar once a certain amount has been imported. The U.S. also has domestic production controls that limit supplies, keeping prices higher. But high fructose corn syrup is also cheaper because of the federal government's billions of dollars in subsidies for corn farmers. Loans, direct payments, insurance premium subsidies and surplus crop purchases all lower farmers' costs – and the price of the corn they grow. While cutting back on added sugars has documented benefits, replacing them with artificial sweeteners is complicated, too. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, introduced in 2017, uses the artificial sweetener aspartame and the natural sweetener stevia in its recipe. But research suggests that aspartame may be linked to cancer. In 2023, a committee for the World Health Organization determined that aspartame should be categorized 'as possibly carcinogenic to humans.' While that doesn't mean that diet soda causes cancer, the scientific committee concluded that there may be a possible link between aspartame and liver cancer, and that the issue should be studied further. The U.S. Food and Drug administration disagreed with the WHO panel, citing 'significant shortcomings' in the research that backed the conclusion. FDA officials noted that aspartame is one of the most studied food additives and said 'FDA scientists do not have safety concerns' when it is used under approved conditions. Stevia, a plant-based sweetener, appears to be 'a safe choice,' according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Chicago Tribune
10-07-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Snap, crackle, sale: Nutella maker Ferrero plans to buy WK Kellogg for $3 billion
By DEE-ANN DURBIN and MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writers Italian confectioner Ferrero, known for brands like Nutella and Kinder, is buying the century-old U.S. cereal company WK Kellogg in an effort to expand its North American sales. The Ferrero Group said Thursday it will pay $23 for each Kellogg share, or approximately $3.1 billion. The transaction includes the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of WK Kellogg Co.'s portfolio of breakfast cereals across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. WK Kellogg's shares were up 31% in morning trading Thursday. Kellogg was founded in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1906 after its founder accidentally figured out how to make flaked cereal while he was experimenting with granola. Kellogg still makes Corn Flakes, as well as Froot Loops, Special K, Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies and other cereals. The current company was formed in 2023, when Kellogg's snack brands like Cheez-Its and Pringles were spun into a separate company called Kellanova. M&M's maker Mars Inc. announced last year that it planned to buy Kellanova in a deal worth nearly $30 billion. Ferrero Group, which was founded in Italy in 1946, has been trying to expand its U.S. footprint. In 2018 it bought Nestle's U.S. candy brands, including Butterfinger, Nerds and SweeTarts. And in 2022 it bought Wells Enterprises, the maker of ice cream brands like Blue Bunny and Halo Top. WK Kellogg's brands have been struggling with a long-term decline in U.S. cereal consumption as consumers turned to protein bars, shakes and other breakfast items. Cereal sales got a bump during the pandemic as more families stayed home, but sales continued to decline after the pandemic eased. At the start of July, U.S. cold cereal sales were down 6% compared to the same period in 2022. But Brad Haller, a senior partner for mergers and acquisitions at West Monroe, said Kellogg's large distribution network and relationship to grocers is appealing to Ferrero, since it will help Ferrero negotiate pricing and positioning for its products. The purchase also helps Ferraro expand beyond snacks and sweets and into a meal category, he said. But Haller said Ferrero may look with a more critical eye on Kellogg's stable of brands and may wind up cutting brands or shutting down manufacturing plants. 'As Americans, these brands are iconic and beloved by us, but a European company buying these wouldn't have the same nostalgia,' Haller said. Kellogg has had other issues. A nearly three-month strike by workers at all its U.S. cereal plants in late 2021 hurt sales. And last fall, dozens of people rallied outside the company's Battle Creek headquarters demanding that Kellogg remove artificial dyes from its cereals. Earlier this year, Kellogg said it was reformulating cereals sold to schools to remove artificial dyes and will not include them in any new products starting in January. Ferrero's acquisition, which still needs approval from Kellogg shareholders, is expected to close in the second half of the year. Once the transaction is complete, Kellogg's stock will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange and the company will become a Ferrero subsidiary.
Japan Today
15-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
More than 2,000 Starbucks baristas go on strike in U.S. to protest new dress code
By DEE-ANN DURBIN A strike by Starbucks baristas protesting the company's new dress code grew Thursday. More than 2,000 Starbucks baristas at 120 U.S. stores have gone on strike since Sunday to protest the new dress code, according to Starbucks Workers United, a union representing the coffee giant's U.S. workers. Starbucks put new limits starting Monday on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons. The dress code requires employees at company-operated and licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms. Under the previous dress code, baristas could wear a broader range of dark colors and patterned shirts. Starbucks said the new rules would make its green aprons stand out and create a sense of familiarity for customers as it tries to establish a warmer, more welcoming feeling in its stores. But Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents workers at 570 of Starbucks' 10,000 company-owned U.S. stores, said the dress code should be subject to collective bargaining. 'Starbucks has lost its way. Instead of listening to baristas who make the Starbucks experience what it is, they are focused on all the wrong things, like implementing a restrictive new dress code,' said Paige Summers, a Starbucks shift supervisor from Hanover, Maryland. 'Customers don't care what color our clothes are when they're waiting 30 minutes for a latte.' Summers and others also criticized the company for selling styles of Starbucks-branded clothing that employees no longer are allowed to wear to work on an internal website. Starbucks said it would give two free black T-shirts to each employee when it announced the new dress code. Starbucks said Wednesday that the strike was having a limited impact on its 10,000 company-operated U.S. stores. In some cases the strikes closed stores for less than an hour, the company said. 'It would be more productive if the union would put the same effort into coming back to the table that they're putting into protesting wearing black shirts to work," Starbucks said in a statement. "More than 99% of our stores are open today serving customers — and have been all week.' Associated Press readers who shared their opinions had mixed views of the dress code. Some said they didn't think Starbucks' baristas had much to complain about, noting that many retailers require their workers to dress a certain way. Others said they thought Starbucks should focus on improving the quality and prices of its beverages, and keeping workers happy instead of worrying about what its employees wear. Starbucks Workers United has been unionizing U.S. stores since 2021. Starbucks and the union have yet to reach a contract agreement, despite agreeing to return to the bargaining table in February 2024. The union said this week that it filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Starbucks' failure to bargain over the new dress code. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
12-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
As Biden-era 'junk fee' rule takes effect, Ticketmaster says it will display fees more clearly
FILE - An advertisement for Ticketmaster is viewed along an area reserved for special guests on the sideline of the field before an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, file) By DEE-ANN DURBIN As a Biden administration ban on so-called 'junk fees' took effect Monday, Ticketmaster said it would start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about its hidden fees, was among those targeted by the new rule, which was announced in December by the Federal Trade Commission. The rule requires ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose processing fees, cleaning fees and other charges up front. Ticketmaster said it agreed with the FTC's action. 'Ticketmaster has long advocated for all-in pricing to become the nationwide standard so fans can easily compare prices across all ticketing sites,' Ticketmaster Chief Operating Officer Michael Wichser said in a statement. Ticketmaster said it will also tell customers where they are in line when they log in to buy tickets to an event. It will also give real-time updates to customers whose wait times exceed 30 minutes, letting them know ticket price ranges, availability and whether new event dates have been added. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Beverly Hills, California-based concert promoter Live Nation, is the world's largest ticket seller, processing 500 million tickets each year in more than 30 countries. Around 70% of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster said Monday's changes would bring North America in line with the rest of the world, where full ticket prices typically are displayed as soon as customers start shopping. SeatGeek, a platform for buying and selling original and resale tickets, said it also updated its features Monday to make 'all-in pricing the default' setting. 'Fans deserve pricing that's clear from the start,' said SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger said. "We're proud to roll this out across our platform and encouraged to see the industry move in this direction.' It has been in the hot seat since 2022, when its site crashed during a presale event for Taylor Swift's upcoming stadium tour. The company said its site was overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as consumers in order to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. Thousands of people lost tickets after waiting for hours in an online queue. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly that drives up U.S. ticket prices and asking a court to break them up. That case is ongoing. President Donald Trump is also eyeing the industry. In March, he signed an executive order that he said would help curb ticket scalping and bring 'commonsense' changes to the way live events are priced. Under the order, the FTC must ensure 'price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process' and take enforcement to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct. 'Anyone who's bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years — no matter what your politics are — knows that it's a conundrum,' said Kid Rock, who joined Trump in the Oval Office as Trump signed the order. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
