cannes_2025_THURSDAY_ISSUE_DIGITAL

M arrah and Martin Van Almsick are thrilled with their must- pass-must-see billboard right opposite the café on the main drag of the Mediterranean Village. “When people have had a coffee, they want chocolate next, so it’s the perfect signpost to our exhibit,” explains Martin. Al Nassma fine camel milk chocolate has brought a number of innovations to Cannes – some of them in prototype form including a 70% dark chocolate with no palm oil and no sugar – just the sweetness of shredded dates – another great flavour of Dubai along with kunafa which has been combined into a bonbon form for “reasonably priced” Samha range. Indeed, all Al Nassma and Samha camel milk chocolate sales continue to ride the Dubai Chocolate wave/craze (“we’ve gone from double-digit to triple-digit growth”) with Martin predicting that it could last a long time…as long as Salzburg’s Mozartkugel…invented in 1890! BlueVillage C2 T o start with what is, for many people, singularly the most important selling point: It’s gluten-free – liquorice by ‘Lakrids by Bülow’ uses rice flour rather than wheat. And that’s not the only benefit of the ingredient – CEO Frederik Nilsson says that rice flour produces a much softer texture because it is “more neutral”. Accepting that “liquorice is polarising”, Nilsson has brought a range of flavours which he claims have converted those who think that people who love liquorice are somehow strange. This includes a new “milkshake” coated travel retail exclusive developed with Joe & The Juice. In a tasting experiment in the TFWA Daily office, we thought it was very much like a strawberry bonbon; the ‘Dark & Sea Salt’ was our favourite. Polarising or not, this new exhibitor to Cannes has been noticeably busy all week. GreenVillageM42 Wonderbalmflies to #1 on BA; “Korean’ skincare moves front and centre” I n just 18 months all-natural and vegan Wonderbalm now has achieved 35 airline listings – including the #1 skincare position on British Airways – and full distribution at WHSmith in UK, and on cruise ships with MSC and Harding. New in Cannes is the “Wonder Duo” travel exclusive combining Wonderbalm lip care (10ml) with a Wonderbalm “mini” (20ml) all-purpose care. “Frommimicking their hairstyles to being obsessed with k-pop and k-dramas everyone wants Korean things so that’s why we’ve also redesigned all our packaging to bring Korean skincare front and centre” says Ibs Ansari, Co-Founder of BeautyPro. YellowVillage F57 Al Nassma camel milk chocolate innovates with another classic Dubai ingredient – dates! Lakrids by Bülow – flavours which might make liquorice “less polarising” Thursday 2 October 2025 14 T F W A D A I L Y