The market research company draws on lessons from the last few years to help guide the consumer packaged goods industry.

There’s a running theory that if the confectionery industry refuses to address the problems cocoa farmers face, eventually there just won’t be anyone willing to work as a cocoa farmer. The same is true for retail employees. 

We are barely into the middle of January, and it’s already become clear that 2018 is going to be a whopper of a year for mergers and acquisitions. M&A’s, they call them.

Nestlé S.A. will sell its U.S. confectionery business to Ferrero Group for $2.91 billion (CHF 2.8 billion), the company announced Tuesday.

Switzerland-based Nestlé S.A. says it’s “exploring strategic options” for its nearly $1-billion U.S. confectionery business, including a possible sale.

What I find most interesting about these latest deals, however, is that this marks the first time that these two companies will be producing confections on U.S. soil, particularly since both of these involve giants who have production facilities scattered throughout the world.