China will get more chocolate. We’ll get more chewing gum. Oh, the pace of international commerce.
U.S. candy and snacks group Hershey Co. and South
Korea’s Lotte Confectionery Co. will set up an $80 million joint venture
to make chocolate in China, aiming to boost share in a market dominated by Mars
Inc.
China Daily says this is “China Chocolate Beauty”
U.S. candy and snacks group Hershey Co. and South Korea’s Lotte Confectionery Co. will set up an $80 million joint venture to make chocolate in China, aiming to boost share in a market dominated by Mars Inc.
China’s chocolate market, which Lotte estimates at about $600 million and sees doubling annually in tandem with economic growth, is 50 percent controlled by Mars.
Hershey, which has no manufacturing base outside the United States, also aims to sell chocolates produced at Lotte’s Shanghai factory to the rest of Asia, including Japan, the two companies told a joint news conference in Seoul on Monday.
Lotte will be able to use Hershey’s distribution networks to market its chewing gum line-up in the United States.
Didn’t I warn you? Globalization will rot your teeth.
Posted: Mon - January 29, 2007 at 12:47 PM