JOHANNESBURG, June 6 (Reuters) - Snacks company Mondelez

International Inc is close to introducing

heat-resistant chocolate it can sell at market stalls in Africa

and some of the world's hottest places, a senior executive said

on Thursday.

The maker of Cadbury chocolate and Oreo cookies has spent at

least ten years on research and is close to introducing the new

snacks to consumers, according to Lawrence MacDougall, the

company's president for Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa

(EEMEA), although he declined to give a specific date for the

roll-out.

He gave no details on the content of the chocolate, how it

tasted or what it would be called but said that it could solve

the problems Mondelez and other snack producers face in

sub-Saharan Africa, where many consumers shop in outdoor markets

and food can be left for hours in the blazing heat.

"It can withstand 40 degrees and not turn to liquid,"

MacDougall told Reuters in an interview.

"We launched the patent last year. It's in development now.

We're looking at commercialising it pretty soon. It will be for

where we are challenged on climate and retail environments."

Although supermarket chains like South Africa's Massmart

and Kenya's Uchumi are expanding in Africa,

there are still relatively few trading environments where

products like chocolate can be kept cool, MacDougall said.

"You go to an open market in Lagos, you don't find many cool

places there," he said. "As supermarkets expand it will make it

easier for us, but at the moment we want to move fast."

Faced with maturing markets in the United States and Europe,

Mondelez is betting on emerging economies to drive its growth.

Although home to a billion people, two-thirds of whom are

under 35, Africa accounted for just 26 percent of Mondelez's

EEMEA revenue in 2012 - or just short of $1 billion.

The company aims to make its products affordable to

low-income consumers, for example by selling Oreos in packs of

two rather than 12.

It also sells single sticks of gum in countries like Egypt

and Morocco, which it plans to introduce into other markets.

Mondelez's chief executive said last month it expects to

increase investment in emerging markets by $100 million this

year and by up to $300 million in 2015.

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