Live from ProSweets and ISM
Today, my blog comes to you live from the ProSweets and ISM trade fairs in Cologne, Germany, where everything from automatic panning and moulding machines to chewy sweets and turn into gum are being presented.
With it being my first show and the first time ProSweets is taking place the same year as Interpack, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but there appears to be positive attitudes from exhibitors. It’s been a busy few days so far and the shows aren’t over yet.
Some of the highlights so far include the Barry Callebaut Studio dinner. Not only did I try pigeon for the first time, but I also gained more of an insight into the cocoa and chocolate company’s Forever Chocolate strategy, which aims to make sustainable chocolate the norm by working towards four objectives from now until 2025. These include eradicating child labour from its supply chain, lifting more than 500,000 cocoa farmers out of poverty, become carbon and forest positive, and have 100% sustainable ingredients in all its products. While the group admitted that it does not have all the answers yet, it is confident that by working with farmers and industry organisations it will be able to scale the project in the future.
On the packaging and equipment side of things, Schur Flexible Systems was keen to talk about its thin packaging solution as the industry moves to continue to reduce packaging materials to save costs.
Meanwhile, Wacker Chemie used ProSweets to talk about the technical details behind its latest concept: chewy candy that turns into chewing gum. Available in sugar free and sugarised chocolate, lemon, coffee and orange blueberry flavours, the company believes the concept “opens up a new experience” for consumers. The company also unveiled its 3D gum printer, which can create hollow and solid chewing gum products in either ten minutes or up to an hour.
Over in ISM, there have been plenty of new product launches and developments, including sugar free mints and chocolates that only melt above 90°C.
Last, but not least, Gota Morinaga, director and chairman of Japanese snack company Morinaga Co was awarded the ISM Award 2017. The prize pays tribute to exceptional services in the sweets and snacks industry, as Bastian Fassin, chairman of the International Sweets and Biscuits Fair Task Force (ASIM) emphasised during the award ceremony.
Confectionery Production will feature reviews of both shows in the March issue, but in the meantime, follow @confectionprod and @sweetsnsavoury for live coverage.
