Among our wide range of sector presentations for this year’s World Confectionery Conference, industry analyst Jose Gutierrez Fernandez, of S&P Global Energy, will offer additional insights on how key ingredients for the market are performing, writes Neill Barston.

The sector specialist has a core focus on analysing global agricultural markets: including production, supply, demand, trade and prices, which have been experiencing notable fluctuations, particularly in the cocoa segment, as well as volatility in some quarters for the sugar category, as well as other key commodities for the food industry. 

Within the market, Jose has particular ingredient knowledge of the nut, spice and dried fruit segments of the market, which have all formed valuable inclusions for the chocolate and extended snacking industry. 

You can register for this year’s World Confectionery Conference, taking place One America Square in central London via confectioneryconference.com 

As for the wider business itself, it has more than a century of sector experience providing solutions for a vast array of businesses, including across the broader food industry.

Among S&P’s core areas of expertise, the company’s Agriculture & Food Solutions division  brings together best-in-class pricing, market intelligence, analysis and forecasting in one comprehensive solution.

As the business explained, its operations are powered by the trusted expertise of Platts pricing analysis and CERA research and advisory platform. The company helps organisations understand market dynamics, identify opportunities and make more confident commercial and strategic decisions across the global agriculture and food value chain.

Moreover, as our title has continued to cover, with global markets across confectionery and related supply chains experiencing high levels of unpredictability, having relevant, strong data at hand is of particular value in an uncertain world.

Editor Neill Barston commented: “We welcome Jose as another experienced voice in the commodities and agriculture sector – which are highly important aspects of our broader industry.

“The agriculture arena has been among S&P Energy’s specialisms, and Jose’s specialist ingredient interests will no doubt offer plenty of intriguing insights into an industry that remains full of surprises in terms of its challenges and major opportunities.”