Sweet future with cocoa – or without it

Shocks and reactions

In his introduction president of the association Sándor Sánta told: the price of cocoa has quadrupled since last autumn, leading all players in the industry to wonder how much chocolate Santas and Christmas candies will cost for shoppers in December. Gábor Bukta, head of research at the Concorde Group was the first presenter. He explained that commodity markets are typically predictable, but unexpected shocks can cause abnormal price movements. Katrin Förster, business development manager of Planet A Food GmbH joined the roundtable via a video link and shared exciting information on the emergence of chocolate substitutes.

Reasons and prospects

The presentation of Dr Ernő Gyimes, associate professor at the Institute of Food Engineering of the University of Szeged was delivered by Gábor Intődy, secretary general of the Association of Hungarian Confectionery Manufacturers. It was told that deforestation, CO2 emission and child labour are all contributing to the chocolate industry’s search for substitute solutions. István Takács, managing director of Szerencsi Bonbon predicted a price increase of around 10% for Christmas candy by the end of the year. Dr Róbert Török, director and chief museologist of the Hungarian Museum of Trade and Tourism spoke about innovations and crises, giving an overview of the history of chocolate consumption in Hungary dating back to the 18th century. The final presentation of the day was by Péter Rosta, professor of industrial design at the Faculty of Wood Engineering and Creative Industries of the University of Sopron. He pointed out that in packaging the task isn’t only to create designs that respond to modern needs, but also to develop sustainable solutions. //