Swiss headquartered Bühler has become the latest business to enter our annual awards, which form a notable element of our fast-approaching World Confectionery Conference in September, reports Neill Barston.

The global technology and solutions group has continued on a strong track of devising equipment and systems for the sweets and snacking market, and is among the latest across the industry to vie for honours – which are now in their fifth year of operating.

In the wake of a significant appearance at this year’s interpack event in Dusseldorf in which the business showcase a number of new technologies, Bühler is submitting its freshly-released Lucent cocoa processing line (below) as part of our World Confectionery Awards in our equipment innovation category.

Notably, the deadline for this year’s awards has been extended until Thursday 23 July across its six categories of sustainability initiative of the year, best finished product, ingredients, equipment innovation, ingredients innovation, and team of the year accolades. 

We welcome entries from right across the full spectrum of the industry, whether that is small or medium-sized enterprises operating around the world, or larger corporations, all will be considered equally by our panel consisting of our independent editorial advisory board, as well as our own internal input into assessing entries for respective innovations.

What’s more, the awards remain entirely free to enter as a celebration of achievements within our varied and dynamic combined industries – complete an entry form via the following link and return it to us by the deadline of Thursday July 23 to be part of this year’s accolades. 

Registration for this year’s World Confectionery Conference, at the America Square conference venue on 10th September is fully open, and is being managed through our site above, which is confectioneryconference.com

Company development
For its part, Bühler has continued to drive innovation within its ranks, and in other company news this summer, it has acquired  German plant engineering business, Endeco.

The two businesses have reportedly been working together since 2022, with  a shared focus on plant-based proteins. This collaboration includes the development and execution of customer projects, as well as the operation of the Protein Application Center at Bühler’s headquarters in Uzwil.

Endeco has been acquired by the Buhler group

Endeco, pictured above, contributes deep plant engineering expertise and process knowledge in starch, protein, and food applications. Bühler provides scale, market reach, and a broad technology portfolio. Together, the two companies cover the whole value chain, closing capability gaps, accelerating innovation, and delivering more advanced solutions for customers in plant-based proteins.

“Endeco brings a strong combination of agility, process expertise, and a highly solution-oriented mindset that complements Bühler’s existing capabilities. We see significant potential to create additional value together, not only in proteins, but across other areas of our business,” says Mike Häfeli, CEO Business Grains & Food at Bühler Group.