Spanish food and chocolate company Natra opened its first sales office in China and a second office in the United States. Currently producing 115,000 tons of chocolate products a year from its five factories in Europe, Natra plans to take advantage of the increasing confectionery market in China. According to Euromonitor International, the Chinese market represents less than 1% of total world consumption of chocolate products, but Western influence has allowed confectionery sales to reach above 10% annually.

With private label product sales rising in the United States due to a struggling economy, the new office in California will allow Natra to strengthen its position in the U.S. market. Nielsen’s latest report (June 2008) predicts that private label confectionery products in the United States will grow 27% in 2008.