This year’s World Confectionery Conference sees the event move to London for the first time. We meet Andreas Bertram, board member at Germany’s ZDS Central College of Confectionery, ahead of his speaker appearance at our must-attend conference this September, and as it hosts a special celebration event this week at its base in Solingen, near  Cologne this week, marking its 75th anniversary. Neill Barston reports

With an impressive history of 75 years in serving the needs of the next generation of confectionery engineers and technicians, ZDS has evolved into a highly influential international organisation.

While many nations around the globe regrettably no longer have dedicated national training bodies for vital skills for the sweets and snacks trade – including the UK, the German-based college has gone on to
ever-greater heights.

The organisation has continued to host several specialised training events for the chocolate confectionery sector each year, as well as a separate rolling-programme of training modules and sessions for its dynamic range of students enrolling on its courses.

So, our World Confectionery Conference extends a warm welcome to Andreas
Bertram, ZDS’s former managing director, who now serves as a consultant and board member to the college, who will be returning after a two-year break to speak at our event on 10 September at America Square Conference Centre, London.

As he explains in a wide-ranging interview, industry education remains a
life-long passion for the senior industry expert, who will be underlining the value of passing on skills to the next generation of confectionery specialists.
This is ever-more pressing in an age which has seen an ongoing skills shortage, making the work of ZDS even more vital to students from Germany, and further afield.

Q: How significant do you believe the 75th anniversary of ZDS is?
From my personal view, ZDS is my life. I was there, I was a student, I was a teacher there, I was a managing director, and lately, I was selected to be on the board. So, I can tell you, once ZDS always ZDS. I think we are the key player in the sector, and the only place that is really training the German industrial
workers for our sector, and this makes us very different from all other vocation
schools. As far as I am aware, there’s no other single German vocation school which has a five roll refiner, just for education reasons, so we are very special.

In the beginning, when ZDS was founded, it was totally clear that its  stakeholders were together in their purpose. We had the supply industry from the confectionery world, as well as ingredients, as well as also having
machinery and producers of confectionery. They joined together to form our school 75 years ago. So, for the industry, and for the wider professional sector, I would consider ours as the most important education training centre in Germany and Europe, maybe even further afield.

Q: What is the history behind ZDS’s creation?
The industry was developed over 100 years ago, but it was after the Second World War in the late 1940s and 1950s, it was realised that the sector did not have the labour forces to fulfil the market’s needs. Our industry is totally different from others that are focused on artisan crafts, it’s one that is industrial in its nature.

There was previously no school in the market for either North or South Germany, and it was realised that regional ones in each state did not make sense. So, the idea was born in having a central confectionery school, which is where our name comes from. Solingen, where we are based, made the best offer for its creation.

Q: As we inhabit a heavily automated age, how important do you believe it
is that skills training is maintained?
I strongly believe that it’s very important to transport knowledge to the next generation. Everyone is talking about automisation and the new digital world, but if you look very carefully at the factory production floor, you realise that you still need a lot of competence, understanding of raw materials and process
parameters to get the right quality within operations.

Q: How rewarding have you found your own teaching career as part of your
former work with ZDS?
When you’re standing there in front of a class, and you’re probably able to answer most of the questions that are put to you, there’s a sense that people respect you. So, it really is a wonderful job, which also gives you a sense of justification, and I think if you do it from the bottom of your heart, it’s one of
the best roles in the world.

Q: Do you have a favourite memory from being managing director at ZDS over the past two decades?
I think about this in bigger terms. When I came back to ZDS over 20 years ago, the school had just survived a crisis, and they said maybe it’s now time to give a younger guy, as I was then, the time to develop the school to the next level.
The ZDS HQ at Solingen, Germany With my colleagues, who are a fantastic
team, have really developed our overall competence levels. We are now much more visible and recognised for the things we are doing that are focused on improving the confectionery industry.

Q: ZDS has gained acclaim for its major ChocoTec event. How important is
that to your operations?
For me, ChocoTec is extremely important – as a vocational school, it requires financial security, so having successful seminars is fundamental to our entire structure. ChocoTec has become a very well known event forthe entire chocolate processing industry in Europe, so every two years we really do try
to focus on bringing the industry together for it. The event always gives us ideas for new subjects and improves our confidence in applications for chocolate processing.

Q: Will you be doing anything else special to mark the organisation’s
75th birthday?
Yes, we have made the whole year a celebration, including at ISM with a new,
modern booth, and we are also at interpack as well. We have a big party in June planned for our membership, which is also for our neighbours, our employees and their children. Our final celebration will be later this year in December, with ChocoTec – so that will be the big one!

• Andreas Bertram will be speaking at this year’s World Confectionery Conference, being held at America Square Conference Centre, London on 10 September. Visit confectioneryconference.com to register for the event and email [email protected] for any sponsorship enquiries, or Neill Barston at [email protected] for editorial.