Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and festive season ahead

With 2025 rapidly drawing to an eventful conclusion, all that remains from the Confectionery Production team is to offer a note of thanks to all those who have played their part in our magazine, websites and event this year.

We shall be offering a review of the year next week, but for now, it’s safe to say that this has been a particularly memorable year in the grand scheme of things across the full value chain of the sweets and snacks industry.

From major headaches caused by peak cocoa prices experienced in January, ongoing logistics uncertainties and heightened operating costs,  EUDR’s legislative sagas, through to the Trump administration tariffs causing disruption to global markets, this will certainly go down as being an exceptionally newsworthy period.

One thing that has certainly stood out on a personal level has been the degree of industry resilience that I have personally witnessed on my travels around the world, which has been quite inspiring.

So it has been all the more gratifying to see that companies have stuck by us during these ongoing market tests – many of them being particularly substantial, and that is not something we take lightly.

Indeed, we have endeavoured to deliver some genuine exclusives across this year, as well as looking to lead the way on coverage of events spanning everything from ISM and ProSweets in Cologne and its sister show in Dubai, through to Sweets & Snacks Expo, all of which have showcased the rich variety of our industry in its respective regions.

There’s always something new, dynamic and interesting happening in these markets, and that has very much kept us on our toes – but we would love to hear from you all about your views. If there’s something that you would like to see more of, or that we perhaps haven’t put under the microscope as a topic, please do get in touch with me, editor, Neill Barston, to express your views on any aspect of our combined industries.

For now, here’s wishing you a fantastic festive season, and we hope you’re able to enjoy a break over the Christmas period with friends and family,

Neill Barston, editor, Confectionery Production

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