Heat resistant chocolate on its way, says Cadbury maker

Danielle Bowling
7 June, 2013
Foodmagazine

Mondelez International Inc, the company which makes Cadbury chocolate and Oreo cookies, has confirmed it’s close to introducing heat resistant chocolate to consumers in some of the world’s hottest countries.

The company’s president for eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Lawrence MacDougall, refused to give a date for the product’s roll-out, or information on its content or taste, but said the heat resistant chocolate would solve the problems snack manufacturers face in places like sub-Saharan Africa, where consumers shop in outdoor markets and products are often left in the sun for hours on end.
“It can withstand 40 degrees and not turn to liquid,” MacDougall told Reuters.

“We launched the patent last year. It’s in development now. We’re looking at commercialising it pretty soon.”

While supermarket chains like Massmart and Uchumi are expanding in countries like South Africa and Kenya respectively, MacDougall said there are relatively few retail environments where chocolate can be kept cool.

“You go to an open market in Lagos, you don’t find many cool places there,” he said. “As supermarkets expand it will make it easier for us, but at the moment we want to move fast,” he said.