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Notes on chocolate: a Eurovision box of chocolate hits
Like many people, I grew up watching Eurovision. So it was a real thrill to put together a mini Eurovision box, with five full-size bars, £34.95 (10% discount for readers with EUROAB10, valid until end of June) representing six nations (one bar represents two countries). The dual bar is Puchero's Churros bar, a 38% milk with real churros crushed into it. It's the sort of bar you'd eat at a midnight feast and not regret a bit of, and perfect for munching while watching Eurovision 2023. The bar is made in Spain, but one of the makers is Italian. It is addictive, so be careful.Get more news about Chocolate Box,you can vist our website!
Table's 61% Haitian milk is made in Liverpool, which is entirely fitting given it is the host city. It is so creamy it'll remind you of childhood chocolate (which we know didn't really taste like that but memories do become more golden with time).
There's another dark milk from France, Chocolat Bonnat's 65% Morenita (great name for a Eurovision song, no?), this one has a gorgeous wrapper and almost caused a diplomatic incident since it largely went missing in the testing process. An Englishman was found guilty: ‘I couldn't help myself,' he said. It's a very meaty milk, with a slow, smooth melt.
Two darks. One from Ukraine by Stranger, the Kokoa Kamili Tanzania 70%, which is an incredible bar: so tasty, smooth and delicious, and made by a family in Ukraine.
Finally, the mad heavy metal act: Germany's Georgia Ramon's 70% with chilli, as featured a few weeks ago. I had to include it, because I've grown strangely fond of this bar, but leave it until last.
For the first month 10% goes to the Trussel Trust and please note that neither the Observer, nor I, make any money from this.
Popular chocolate boxes look big
As Valentine's Day arrives, so does the annual frenzy to buy or gift the classic Russell Stover and Whitman's Sampler chocolate boxes that come in under $12 or so at Walgreens, CVS, Walmart and Target stores.
But shoppers may be disappointed this year when they open those big red or pink heart-shaped boxes, according to one consumer advocate. Get more news about Chocolate Box,you can vist our website!
Consumer watchdogs have a name for the tactic, called "slack-fill," and it's not allowed under federal law. Regulators judge whether a product is slack-filled by comparing the capacity of the package to the amount of product it actually contains, he said. Then they determine if the extra space in it is nonfunctional and doesn't serve a legitimate purpose, like protecting the product.
This is different from the "shrinkflation" phenomenon, a product packaging practice that's typically triggered when inflation surges and companies' costs go up. To contain those costs, companies put products in packaging that appear smaller, lighter in weight and decorated with less flashy colors.
Dworsky said a reader alerted him to the chocolate boxes a few days ago and sent him evidence of a heart-shaped Whitman's chocolate sampler box.
The box, 9.3-inches wide and 10-inches high, had a net weight of 5.1 ounces. "That's a pretty decent size," said Dworsky. But when the box was opened, it had 11 pieces of chocolate inside.
So, Dworsky bought a few of this year's Whitman's boxes (priced at $7.99 each) and removed all of the inside packaging material and inserts. "The chocolate pieces only filled up one-third of the box."Dworsky didn't have evidence that brands are actually skimping on the chocolates compared to previous years. But CNN found one Russell Stover heart-shaped candy box -- with a Best Before date of June 10, 2006 and kept as a memento by one of our staffers -- of the same size, 9 inches wide by 10 inches high.
Dworsky also found a 5.1 ounce Russell Stover heart with nine pieces of chocolate inside. "It's almost double the size of the 4-ounce Russell Stover box, which has seven pieces," he said.
"Imagine being the recipient of the bigger box. If you're giving it to your love on Valentine's Day, they think it's decent-sized big box of chocolate but then it only has nine pieces in it," he said. "It's awful."
Both brands do disclose on their boxes the weight and the approximate number of candy pieces inside. Swiss chocolate company Lindt & Sprüngli, which owns Russell Stover, Whitman's and Ghirardelli brands, referred requests for comment to Russell Stover Chocolates.
Russell Stover Chocolates said it "works to clearly indicate to our customers what is included in our packaging."
"This includes sharing the product weight and how many pieces are in all of our Valentine's Day boxed chocolates," said Patrick Khattak, the brand's vice president of marketing, in an email to CNN Business.
Regulators have gone after chocolate makers in the past over so-called deception packaging. California district attorneys filed a lawsuit in 2019 against Russell Stover and Ghirardelli for allegedly using false bottoms and other deceptive tactics in some chocolate boxes and bags, making the packaging look more filled than it really was.
Barry Callebaut inaugurates 'The Chocolate Box
The Barry Callebaut Group, world's leading cocoa and chocolate manufacturer, inaugurated today 'The Barry Callebaut Chocolate Box', its new Global Distribution Center in Lokeren, Belgium. Get more news about Chocolate Box,you can vist our website!
The Chocolate Box is the world's largest chocolate warehouse and will be the logistical hub for all packed Belgian chocolate and decorations products, produced in Barry Callebaut's chocolate factories in Wieze and Halle, Belgium.
The Chocolate Box is the result of a successful partnership between Barry Callebaut, the real estate developer WDP, and the city of Lokeren.
With a total investment amount of EUR 100 million, it is the largest investment Barry Callebaut has ever made in its operations network. The Chocolate Box increases the efficiency of Barry Callebaut's global logistics and will allow the Group to serve customers even faster.
At Lokeren, the warehouse Is ideally located: near the E17 highway, facilitating carrier transport throughout Western Europe and with direct access to the Port of Antwerp for global shipping. Construction began in the summer of 2019. Less than 24 months later, the building, spanning a total surface of 12 football fields, was completed. In the fully automated high bay warehouse, 41 meters high, up to 125 000 pallets can be stored at a constant temperature of 18°C. Over 120 employees, of whom 40 are in newly created positions, are securing smooth operations.
The Barry Callebaut Chocolate Box is not only the world's largest chocolate warehouse, but also the most sustainable.
The Chocolate Box is the first building in the Benelux with a "BREEAM Outstanding" certification, the highest standard in sustainable logistics. The building is fully energy-positive, as it can completely fulfill its own energy consumption. In order to achieve this certificate, the newest techniques in sustainable building have been used: solar panels, air treatment groups, rain water and heat recovery, humidity control, insulation and geothermal energy.
The wellbeing of the employees, an essential part of the "BREEAM Outstanding" certification, is ensured through access to natural daylight throughout the building, zones for relaxation and storage facilities for e-bikes.
The Chocolate Box is a milestone for Barry Callebaut," said Peter Boone, CEO of the Barry Callebaut Group. "From Lokeren, all packed chocolate products - mainly under our Belgian chocolate brand Callebaut - will be shipped to the rest of the world. The Chocolate Box is an example of how we execute our smart growth strategy, increasing efficiency and serving our customers in a more sustainable way."