CAOBISCO, the Association of European Confectionery manufacturers held its Annual General Assembly on 14-15 June 2018. The Association of Hungarian Confectionery Manufacturers (HUNBISCO), with an observer status, was represented by the vice-president and the secretary.

Reports

The General Assembly accepted the reports and the budget.

President

The General Assembly elected Mary Barnard (Mondeléz Intl.) as President of CAOBISCO for two years. Former President Alessandro Cagli (Ferrero) continues his CAOBISCO activities  as Vice-President and supports the new chairman in the next two years.

Moderate membership fee associations

The Hungarian, Spanish and Polish associations have so far paid moderate membership fees in exchange for no voting rights. The Polish and Spanish federations will pay the full membership fee from next year and will receive their voting rights. The position of HUNBISCO continues to be with the moderate membership fee, for us information flow is the key.

Mindful eating framework

The initiatives of the Australian ‘be treatwise’ or the Italian Merendine programs are recommended to the national associations but there is no common CAOBISCO approach in this respect. The Hungarian association has started this work very early through the voluntary commitments of ÉFOSZ, the National Association of Food Industrialists.

Child labour

CAOBISCO and ILO take a stand together against child labour.

Palm oil

CAOBISCO cooperates with the competent EU bodies to reduce palm oil use.

Intensive sweeteners

CAOBISCO initiates a permissive EU regulation for the use of intensive sweeteners in fine bakery products.

Sugar alcohols

CAOBISCO initiates a permissive EU regulation for the most extensive use of sugar alcohols in confectionery products in order to reduce energy consumption.

Taste is much more complicated than most people would think. The taste is just a tiny ingredient in flavour sensation, we can only differentiate between the  5 basic tastes based on chewing: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. In addition to the taste the perceived aroma is complemented by vision and smell, among other things as well.

In recent years, more research has been carried out to highlight the relationship between vision and taste. In one of these experiments white wine was dyed red and then wine experts were asked to classify the obtained samples. Interestingly the experts used expressions associated with the classification of red wines to describe the wine samples. This also proves that taste is significantly influenced by vision not just in the case of wines but in food as well.

Already in childhood, connections are established in the brain, which is why we associate flavors or feelings with some colors and shapes. The more attractive foods we immediately feel are tastier, while foods that are different in colour, odour or shape to what we are accustomed to, are less preferred.

Another experiment was carried out with students, and lemonade was dyed with blue, red and green food colorants. 100 students were asked which drink tasted the best. The majority chose the blue soft drink because they prefer the flavor of blueberries the most, although each drink was a lemon and lime flavor. They did a similar experiment with vanilla pudding, where ‘chocolate’ pudding was the favourite, which was in fact the same vanilla pudding as the rest with added brown dye.

The latest test was carried out by the well-known Jelly Belly Candy Company’s Jelly Beans with the purpose of finding out how strong the effect of vision is in taste perception. The test participants had to identify the colour and flavour of 5 jelly beans while being blindfolded. Many of the participants particularly liked and knew the jelly beans both in terms of the colour and the flavours, but this did not show up in the results. The majority of participants performed rather poorly in the test, obtaining less than 4 out of 10 points, while there were just a few outstanding performances. Several people  claimed after having seen the tasted candy that the taste could now be easily be identified. This experiment is a very good illustration of the close relationship between vision and taste. /video/

The experiments clearly show how important the role of vision is in the sense of taste. We decide not on our tongue, but in our minds,  how we sense what we eat. Each colour evokes different feelings, complementing the image forming on our taste buds and olfactory cavities.

The Association of Hungarian Confectionery Manufacturers (HUNBISCO) is optimistic about the prospects of the Hungarian confectionery market. According to Nielsen’s latest figures, in last year’s Easter season Hungarians took home 900 tons of chocolate figures, a 20% increase compared to 2016.

The chocolate bunny proved to be the favourite, overtaking the runner-up chocolate eggs as well as the duck, sheep and chick figures. The monetized Easter confectionery sales increased even more than the volume, by 28%: HUF 4,5 billion landed in the tills. The total annual Hungarian confectionery market in 2017 was more than HUF 200 billion. This year’s forecast by the Association’s members, who account for over 80% of the domestic turnover, anticipates a further 2-3% growth – said Sándor Sánta, the President of HUNBISCO. Interestingly, in the Easter season , besides the chocolate figures, the demand for candies also increases, and the candy market itself has been performing better than the whole confectionery market over the past year thanks to the innovations.

Consumers are becoming more and more open to products of higher quality, made of premium materials, in a higher price range. The previous years were characterized by a drop in the volume of consumption, but demand has shifted steadily to quality, he added.

For confectionery manufacturers, Easter generally brings a higher demand for chocolate figures, with sales up to 20% over the sales volume of the December period, added Sándor Sánta. He also revealed that the chocolate bunny has been the most popular figure at Easter for four years.

Under a European framework agreement, the added sugar content of food products will have to be reduced by 10% by 2020, and via voluntary commitments this reduction has already been started by the confectionery manufacturers together with the National Association of Food Distributors. Sweets that meet specific requirements, such as gluten-, sugar- and lactose-free products, are gaining ground for more and demand is expected to continue to grow.