Final registration countdown for the 2023 World Confectionery Conference
The Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate, UK, will form the backdrop of the 2023 World Confectionery Conference. Pic: Neill Barston
We’re now on the final countdown to this year’s World Confectionery Conference, which is just one week away, and I am encouraged to report that the industry appears buoyed by the prospect of engaging with it on a wide range of major topics for the industry.
So, for subscribers and wider sector professionals who have yet to register for the show taking place on 5 October at the Harrogate Convention Centre in Yorkshire, UK, there’s still time to do so, and play your part in what we believe will be a valuable and dynamic day of discussion, debate and networking for the entire sector. Please book through our event website as soon as possible here, which will help significantly with our planning.
This event really is for the benefit of the sector, so your contributions and views on it are all extremely welcome – if you’ve any questions ahead of the conference, don’t be shy in coming forward, whether that’s on themes, logistics or just simply making yourself known, all communication is welcome. So please do drop me a line directly at [email protected] if you’ve any issues relating to the event, or any other members of our team, as we want this to live up to both your own and our expectations.
Among its key aspects this year, one thing that I am personally especially looking forward to in learning some new skills, with the chocolate making masterclass led by ethically founded chocolate business, York Cocoa House, taking place the following day in neighbouring York, on 6 October, which is part of our optional activity sessions (including a tour of the company’s production facilities in the morning, followed by the practical session in the afternoon (which is available at a small additional cost and will need to be booked at the following separate link).
The additional optional events on the second day will be led by Sophie Jewett, who has gained a very broad education on the cocoa sector, including running her own business for many years, and has worked with some of the industry’s leading lights across the UK and beyond, so the chance to gain some practical confectionery insights from her will be an invaluable, and fun way to round off our conference activities for 2023.
As for our destination, after digging around a little, Harrogate has more than a few surprises in its history when it comes to the confectionery sector, which I am sure you’ll all learn about in due course on the day, but suffice to say that we are glad that we’ll have the chance to meet one of its founding confectionery firms, Farrah’s, as well as the recently developed Harrogate Chocolate Factory, supporting young people with autism and learning difficulties in the area, as part of what is anticipated to be a vibrant day for all involved.
Incredibly, this is now our third event (our original show was online in 2021 due to the pandemic), and the response so far is proving that there’s very much a demand for live events again – the segment is very definitely positively booming in a broader sense across business sectors, as the pandemic gradually recedes in the rear mirror of history, and we return to something approaching normality again. Except it’s impossible to pretend the world is in what could be described as a normal state, with a raft of challenges still facing our sector, both in terms of supply chains, ingredients costs, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine causing market destabilisation, combining to cause further uncertainties.
But in an uncertain world, I can’t help thinking it’s a wonderful thing to have something to look forward to on the horizon, which is very much part of the philosophy of our conference, which will not seek to shy away from some of those big tests, whether that’s discussing progress on tackling child labour and deforestation, through to making wider industry more energy efficient and engaging with digital transformation, yet we’ll look at the positives too.
Thankfully, there’s a certainly some excellent progress being made across the full spectrum of our combined sectors, as this year’s World Confectionery Awards, which will be presented at our conference, with the judging process genuinely made more complex by the particularly noteworthy entries we had this year.
So, all in all, this year’s World Confectionery Conference is looking in strong shape, though there’s some hard work to do in the build-up to it all yet, including logistics for the show – and on that note, attendees should consider that rail industrial action (reduced rail services are running in the UK) has been called for the day before the show, so we would advise you to book your travel sooner rather than later in light of that.
Here’s looking forward to seeing you all next week in Yorkshire, so here’s wishing you safe travels in the meantime, as we prepare for the third iteration of our show, which is set to shine a light on major international developments across our ever-evolving industry.
Neill Barston, editor, Confectionery Production
- Keep in touch at [email protected] or via social media: @confectionprod
