We are supporters of market economy and know our raw materials are affected by fluctuations of the world market. But if you see the price of your produce increasing fivefold, then you have a real problem.
Sugar using industry has been fighting a very long-term battle in this field, and I'm happy to see that finally the EU has moved and reform is now on the horizon.
We're hoping that 2006 and several events coming up that make people eat more sweets -- the World Cup, for instance -- will increase consumption again by 1 or 2 percent.
We do believe that it's a question of how the overall economy is faring. The atmosphere is improving, everyone's looking forward to a positive development of the economy and we do believe that the confectionary industry will benefit from this.
We've seen hazelnut prices peak at $11-12 a kilo (9-10 euros), from $2-3 a kilo. That's not an evolution, that's a revolution, and for companies producing products with high hazelnut content, that's a real disaster.
