Small Business Resources, Business Advice and Forms from AllBusiness.com
 

Health plus hedonics boost chocolate sales.

By Burke, Carole
Publication: Candy Industry
Date: Wednesday, September 1 1999

Ever since Hernando Cortez discovered that Montezume drank 50 golden cups of cocoa daily, chocolate has been the subject of considerable medical speculation.

To the Aztecs, drinking chocolate conferred on their emperor universal knowledge and wisdom. Within a century of its introduction into

Europe, chocolate gained a reputation as a potent libido lifter, a theory popularized by Casanova, the Venetian libertine, and by Madame Pompadour, the mistress to the French King Louis XV.

Such beliefs launched chocolate's appeal across Europe. Its popularity accelerated unchecked when the Pope declined to consider chocolate as a "fast breaker," thus freeing its consumption from potential moral opprobrium.

But only within the last 10 years has medical research identified chocolate's healthy properties. These properties include as a potent antioxidant capability inhibiting (low-density lipoprotein) LDL cholesterol buildup, as a human immune system modulator, as a stress and ulcer reducer, and as a cancer fighter.

However, researchers still must prove that chocolate's healthy components are absorbed by the body and not just excreted as expensive urine.

Japanese confectioners have been marketing the health benefits of cocoa since 1995, according to Japanscan, a market research publication concentrating on the Japanese food, drink and nutraceutical market. The demand for cocoa has doubled from 10,500 tons in 1994 to 21,600 tons in 1997.

"Healthy" chocolate products were introduced in 1996. Japanese confectioners hope that these products will continue to revitalize the market by broadening chocolate's appeal through targeting middle-aged adults who are not traditional chocolate consumers. [Japanscan: 1998]

Meanwhile in the United States, there are a wealth of low fat and sugar-free confections available that are touted as "healthy" treats. Among those are Nestle's Sweet Success Bar and Milky Way Lite; Hershey's Sweet Escapes; and Snackwells line from Nabisco.

Contributing to the texture and deliciousness of some of the healthy products is Benefat, the Danisco-Cultor trade name for salatrim, a family of reduced calorie fats. Unlike traditional fats that contribute nine kilocalories of fat per gram, Benefat averages five, or five-ninths that of traditional fat.

"It reduced both fat and calories in a finished confection. Benefat is a very stable fat." says Karen Penichter, marketing director of bakery and confectionery, Danisco-Cultor. "Benefat functions and tastes like fat," she says.

In addition, make sure to read these articles:

  • Be Mine You Hot Mama
  • A useless but fun fact: Approximately 8 billion conversation hearts -- those Valentine candies with messages imprinted on them: Be Mine, True Love, Hot Mama ......
  • New Hampshire Couple Turns Chocolate into Home...
  • Do you love chocolate? Richard and Bette Jo Menzel do. They turned their home into a profitable Chocolate Factory . It's not just any chocolate ......
  • Innovation not Important in America?
  • A recent article posted on Yahoo! Finance troubles me. The article shared highlights of a Conference Board report interested in what CEOs worry about....
  • Research and Markets: See How Cocoavia is Faring...
  • DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c30864) has announced the addition of Cocoavia Case Study: Marketing Healthy Chocolate to their offering. This report on ......
  • SoyLife captures health benefits.
  • MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Confectioners can capture the nutritional value of soybeans with SoyLife, an extract produced by Schouten USA. SoyLife brings the health benefits of ......
  • ADVISORY/Experts Available To Discuss Study that...
  • Business Editors ADVISORY... --(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2003 TOPIC: Researchers at the University of California at Davis reviewed recent studies that suggest chocolate has health benefits ......
  • Vitamins, minerals, organics debut at ISM.
  • The ISM (International Sweets & Biscuits Fair) brought nearly 30,000 visitors from around the world to the event's home at the Cologne, Germany fairgrounds. This ......
  • Newsletter.
  • Mary of Puddin Hill acquired by Kenron 2000 Mary of Puddin Hill, Greenville, Texas, has been acquired by Kenron 2000 Ltd., a limited partnership owned ......
  • Fighting cancer with phytochemicals.
  • New research suggests bigger role for tea, soy, blueberries. Moms have been pushing the fruits and veggies for a long time, and a growing body ......
  • SmartChocolate--indulgent and good for you.
  • Jimmy Schmidt, who is an author, an executive chef and proprietor of The Rattlesnake Club in Detroit, as well as chief executive officer of St....
  • More Good News About Chocolate's Healthfulness
  • The Harvard Women's Health Watch, a Harvard University publication, reports that the research results of a recent study published in The American Journal of Clinical ......
  • A sweet story!
  • HEADNOTE Polyphenols, a substance that is found in chocolate, is said to lower the LDL cholesterol levels in the body and thereby prevent the risk ......
  • Media Issues.
  • Dark chocolate contains about six times the amount of high quality polyphenol antioxidants as most fruits and vegetables while milk chocolate contains nearly three times ......
  • 7-Eleven Enters Functional Food Arena with Formula...
  • New proprietary line of better-for-you foods and beverages launched.
  • To a tea: different teas impart different...
  • Steeped in history and romance, tea the most commonly consumed drink in the world after water. But with the thousands of choices available for filling ......