Equipment focus: Systems for aerated and enrobed chocolates remain of key global significance
Andrea Boggio, CEO of Sacmi, recently at Gulfood manufacturing. Pic: Neill Barston
Equipment and systems for both aerated and enrobed chocolate ranges is increasingly big business around the world, as Confectionery Production discovers speaking to key firms in the segment. Neill Barston reports
As the market for premium chocolate shows no sign of slowing around the world, maintaining a strong foothold in a competitive market has become an especially critical factor for the confectionery sector.
Whether it’s the small artisan confectioner looking to gain a slice of the gifting market, through to major corporations, the demand from consumers to deliver ever-more creative and dynamic product ranges remains high.
Consequently, the requirement for increasingly automated, yet flexible machinery for chocolate the globe’s $170 billion chocolate market, has also increased markedly, with systems serving the enrobing and aerated chocolate market forming a significant segment of interest for the sector.
According to research group DataIntelo, the market for aerated chocolate – as seen with brands such as Aero, Galaxy Bubbles, and Wispa, has remained pretty constant, with the market set to experience compound growth of around 5.5 per cent until 2030. The US is said to lead the world in the segment, with a 36 per cent global market share, with Europe and Asia following behind.
Meanwhile, as far as enrobed chocolate is concerned – which can either be achieved by hand through chocolatiers artisan approach to the market, or through more automated systems for larger commercial product runs.
As Sophie Loynds, of the UK’s Loynds equipment explains, it has experienced encouraging take-up of its enrober attachment for its chocolate tempering machine, providing an automated solution for the otherwise relatively time-consuming process of traditional coating and filling of product ranges.
“The attachment is used to coat confectionery products, such as caramels, truffles, wafers, biscuits & fruit etc, with a chocolate coating. It typically includes an enclosed chamber where the confectionery products are placed on a conveyor belt and passed through a curtain of melted chocolate. The chocolate is then cooled and hardened to create a smooth and evenly coated finish.
“The demand for these types of enrobing attachments for small-scale tempering systems may vary depending on the market and consumer preferences. However, in recent years, there has been a growing trend towards artisanal and handmade confections, which has led to an increase in demand for small scale equipment and production runs. This allows small and medium-sized confectionery businesses to create unique and high-quality products without the need for large-scale equipment and production runs,” she explained, added that with the rise of e-commerce more and more small-scale confectionery businesses can reach a wider customer base, driving the demand for small scale chocolate enrobing equipment.
Aeration processes
As Confectionery Production editorial board member Graham Godfrey reveals, as far as aeration is concerned, it’s an area that has notable potential, but it has often been the case that processes have remained fairly consistent.
He said: In some products aeration is obvious and a key definer of the product such as “Crunchie”, “Aero”, Mallows) and in other products, its presence is less obvious but equally important, such as nougatines, and foamed jellies.
“And although there have been improvements in equipment and control the basic methods remain essentially unchanged as does many of the products.
Although improved equipment and control systems are widely available the narrow margins inherent in the industry often delay wide spread adoption other than for large scale new investments.
Possibly the only significant “breakthrough” in the area of aerated confectionery has been the introduction of ultrasonic excitement in cutting systems.”
Chemical Aeration
As Godfrey continued, although the mechanism of chemical aeration remains unchanged, there have been significant improvements in control and management systems resulting in more consistent product quality.
More modern cutting techniques have also reduced the losses and waste associated with conventional saws for dividing the product into unit pieces
“Many aerated products are created using mechanical shear and injection of (usually) air. This is again an area where improved techniques for measurement, control and automation have the potential to transform product quality
“Foaming agents are generally protein based – (for example egg albumen, gelatine, soya proteins) but there is constant technical development and improvement in the performance of these products.
The development of dependable systems enabling the controlled aeration of tempered chocolate now allow tempered chocolate be aerated relatively easily and deposited using relatively conventional techniques, producing a variety of interesting products in addition to the more traditional ones.”
Another important technical factor, he adds, is that closely controlled aeration of products such nougatines, caramels and fudges has become increasingly important in order to widen the range of products which can be produced from a base material.
The basic techniques used for this have not substantially changed but improved control and measurement systems together with mechanical design changes have resulted in improved quality and consistency.
He adds another significant area is the practice of ‘sugar pulling’ which he says is considered one of the oldest techniques for changing the appearance and texture of sugar confectionery. This has seen the introduction of a number of continuous mechanised processes which can produce effectively and some of these incorporate nut pastes into the product to produce a premium product.
Godfrey concludes: “Aeration of confectionery products continues to be an extremely important process and strongly influences the texture and even flavour release of a product. It can make a tough product chewy, a hard product interestingly brittle and can also significantly change the physical appearance, making product glossy and attractive. A low level of aeration can make a clear jelly opaque and at higher aeration levels produce the elastic luxury of mallows.
Most of the improvements in recent times have been in terms of mechanical, measurement and control systems producing more consistent products with less waste and that in turn has allowed the development of higher speeds and automation in packaging.
Depositing technology
As Kevin Wymbs, director of the UK’s Wymbs Engineering notes, depositing aerated chocolate can be difficult especially when considering the importance of maintaining the integrity of the cell structure, density and by no means least of all deposit weight accuracy. Without the right approach, depositing aerated chocolate will be virtually impossible.
Chocolate has no “foam-able” protein available and so aeration is achieved under pressure, homogenizing the liquid phase with a gas, more commonly Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide or Nitrogen, at the crystallisation point of the fat. Needless to say absolute control of the mass is essential during the depositing part of the process of creating “bubbly”, “light” and “foamy” chocolate bars and tablets,” explains Wymbs, who explains that the family’s business, founded over 40 years ago by his father Brendan, has grown to become renowned for its leading range of pressurised manifold depositing systems.
He adds: “Wymbs depositing manifolds have no atmospheric hoppers, tempered chocolate, homogenised under pressure with a gas, is fed directly to an inlet connection where pressure and temperature is monitored directly under a fixed system pressure from a continuous aeration system.
“The manifold is facilitated with a “flow through” capability so the chocolate is on a continuous ‘journey’ through tempering, gassing, feeding through depositor, degassing then back to tempering. This keeps the chocolate mass at optimum conditions at all times regardless of production stoppages.
The depositors are assembled with a range of pistons to accurately displacing the mass, volumetrically into the impression of the chocolate mould. Typically +/- 1% on deposit weight accuracy is achieved, and pistons are driven by servo for precise control,” adding that its manifolds are designed as bespoke installations, according to the chocolate mould design and are constructed for small 275mm moulds through the range to larger 1000mm mould sizes for its customers.
Italian flair
For its part, Sacmi Packaging & Chocolate provides a full range of ‘aerated’ chocolate production solutions (Andrea Boggio, CEO of the company pictured in our main feature image recently at Gulfood Manufacturing). This includes its Beta X Aero vertical tempering machine and the Aero Core piston moulding machine form an integrated circuit for the economical yet versatile manufacture of a multitude of ‘aero’’ products. Its advantages are said to include fast product changeovers (less than 10 minutes) and excellent dispensing results even on the finest pralines thanks to accurate dosing control at high pressures.
Furthermore, the Italian-based business offers complete solutions for processing aerated confectionery, which are delivered under its Carle & Montanari brand – a key developer of chocolate processing and moulding solutions since 1907. This plant engineering solution consists of a vertical Beta X Aero vertical tempering machine and an Aero Core volumetric piston chocolate moulding depositor. The result is an exclusive, user-friendly solution for the precision control of multiple types of aerated product. The first step in the circuit is Beta X Aero, a special version of a vertical tempering machine with a unit that mixes aerated products via a gas injection process (nitrogen or carbon dioxide, or a combination of both). This results in precision aeration with specifically shaped and sized inert gas bubbles.
Downstream lies the Aero Core volumetric piston chocolate moulding depositor. Featuring the exclusive AILP (Always-In-Line-Pistons) dosing system, this machine is designed to dispense masses of aerated chocolate and fatty creams (bars, tablets, pralines). Since the pistons can always be kept ‘in line’, at both the suction and dosing stages, the system prevents the pressure drops that can stem from directional changes in the material flow. This makes the solution particularly suitable for dosing aerated masses under pressure (up to 6 bar), with reportedly highly precise results.
New Zealand innovation
While the European continent has been renowned for providing solutions within the aeration sector, one business further afield – in New Zealand, is PTL, which has built a number of specialisms including within aeration machinery.
As the company explained, since it started 35 years ago, it has been dedicated to making fast and easy-to-clean equipment. Nowhere is that focus more clearly seen than in the design of its enrobers. While competitors used mild steel and cast iron, PTL used stainless steel and designed a removable wire web belt. It now offers machines up 1600mm, with each new design improving on the last.
According to the business, the core innovation is the removable components that can be washed down in a separate area. Operators can remove the wire belt carriage, chocolate reservoir and contact pumps, leaving the bare shell with mechanics. While the product-contact components are washed down in another area, operators can replace them with a second set – making changeover a matter of minutes instead of many hours.
This is made even easier by the trolleys PTL supplies with each machine – operators can move each competent right onto its purpose-built trolley, and wheel it straight to the washdown area. The model also eliminates the need for manufacturers to invest in two separate enrobers – with no risk of cross-contamination, they can use the same machinery for any number of coatings.
Furthermore, the company’s bypass system on its enrobers further targets greater levels of efficiency. When installed, the bypass allows operators to produce uncoated SKUs while leaving the enrober in place. They simply swap the belt to switch from coated to uncoated lines – no need to move the machine, put in a conveyor, or extend the line. It’s a system that the company acknowledged is now appearing from other manufacturers, but the business believes its longstanding track record in the segment gives it an edge in a particularly competitive marketplace.
