In April, GODIVA Chocolatier launched its Lady Godiva Program, honoring inspirational women on a local and national level who embody the original Lady Godiva’s selflessness, generosity and leadership as seen above.

Every two years, GODIVA selects a National Lady GODIVA Honoree and this year its first recipient is Lauren Bush Lauren, Co-Founder of FEED Projects, whose non-profit has provided over 60 million school meals to children living in 62 countries throughout the world through the United Nationals WFP since the launch. 

GODIVA committed to sell one-of-a-kind FEED 10 bags, with each providing 10 school meals to children in cocoa-producing regions, and most recently, launched exclusive limited edition products like the FEED 8 Origins Collection of chocolates, where for each box sold, 8 meals will be donated to children in Ecuador and Uganda.

“The Lady GODIVA Program takes this notion of giving one step further.  With the creation of the Lady GODIVA Program, we will honor outstanding women that make a difference both on a national and local level as well as the causes that matter most to women,” says Jim Goldman, President & CEO, GODIVA Chocolatier.Continue reading...

One mooncake wears a thong. Another, called the "full monty," is a bare buttocks. One other mooncake, called "spread my cheeks," is exactly what it says.

The very unconventional line of mooncakes comes from Hong Kong's cheeky design maves at lifestyle brand/retailer G.O.D. (short for "Goods of Desire") and it, according to Jingdaily.com, "puts the 'moon' in mooncakes."Continue reading...

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The Wall Street Journal today highlights KFC's Asian dessert speciality in a piece looking at how the Western tradition of Valentine's Day is making inroads in China and Asia via Western brands.

The dessert specialty in question: the egg tart, the delicious (trust us) custard-like pastry that's a hit from Beijing to Bangkok. Just look at those dewy-eyed young things in KFC's Thai commercial, above.

By producing egg tarts, KFC is paying tribute to a dessert that is indigenous to China; versions were available in Hong Kong as far back as the 1940s, while China's Macau is famed for its Portuguese-influenced variation.Continue reading...

Flavored vodkas have been a strong trend for years now and show no signs of slowing, despite the competing trend for darker spirits and old-style cocktails using fresh ingredients. The flavors, they just keep a-coming.

Godiva, for instance, has recently teamed up with drinks giant Diageo to launch Godiva Chocolate Infused Vodka and Godiva Chocolate Raspberry Infused Vodka, touted as tasting "like drinking the essence of cocoa powder." Hmm. Seeing as how we've never wanted to drink cocoa powder, we might just stick with a good ol' candy bar for our chocolate fix.

Godiva's entry is just the latest in a long line of flavors that range from the pedestrian (what seems like thousands of citrus-flavored vodka brands) to the baffling.Continue reading...

One complaint often lobbed at global brand franchises is how they erase local flavor from the markets they enter. McDonald's in Houston, for example, is like McDonald's in Moscow. But many brands strive for local character.

For the upcoming Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival—a holiday during which mooncakes (round, lotus-paste-filled pastries) are traditionally eaten—Starbucks is offering a unique brand twist via its own Starbucks-branded mooncakes. (Not to be confused with Moon Pies.) Starbucks is also putting a non-Chinese spin on its flavors, offering green tea cheese, cranberry kiwi, caffe Colombia hazelnut cheese, caffe Verona vanilla blueberry, caffe Verona chocolate, and caffe Kenya citrus, among others.Continue reading...