ISM declares winners for its most innovative product awards
Hallendurchblick, Halle 11.1
Organisers of this year’s ISM have confirmed Confiserie Vandenbulcke, Mitsuba and Arna Falco as winners of the Most Innovative Product award, writes Neill Barston.
As Koelnmesse noted, its New Product Showcase has stood as a core fixture for the sector since 2009, and proved a valuable launchpad for many new confectionery ranges.
Central to its appeal has been a special exhibition on the Central Boulevard gives the visitors the targeted opportunity to inform themselves about the innovations of the sweets and snacks industry. Comprising of 45 display windows and over 50 products of more than 30 exhibitors from 11 nations, also in these pandemic times the New Product Showcase once again offers an overview of products that have been developed since February 2021.
As was the case last year, the top innovations were selected by an independent jury of experts from the industry, trade and field of science.
The top 3 of ISM 2022: included Confiserie Vandenbulcke with “Cabosse” from Belgiu, Mitsuba with “Mitsuba Seaweed Crisps” from the Netherlands, and Spain’s Arna Falco with “Toffee Noir.”
Confiserie Vandenbulcke from Belgium achieved first place in this year’s New Product Showcase Award. The jury was impressed by how holistically the whole cocoa fruit was brought to life in a praline. According to the jury, the Belgian chocolatiers succeeded in capturing the taste essence of a cocoa pod with all its nuances in a fruity, chocolatey way in the Cabosse filling, thus creating a new taste experience for pralines. By using the whole fruit organically, not only is there less waste, but the nutrients and minerals are also preserved, giving Cabosse its unique taste.
Seaweed is a traditional ingredient in Asian cuisine. But how do you turn this exotic ingredient into an enjoyable, crunchy, spicy snack? The snack specialists from Mitsuba have impressively demonstrated this in combination with sea salt, paprika or wasabi and without the use of palm oil and flavour enhancers and were rewarded by the jury with 2nd place.
How does a “traditional chocolate toffee manage to win an innovation prize? That’s what the Spanish toffee specialists from Arna Falco showed at this year’s ISM. The result: a wonderfully soft toffee with a deep chocolate note. This toffee, rolled in tender cocoa powder, is not only an experience for chocolate and toffee lovers, but also a great vegan alternative made from tiger nut milk. 3rd place for a new generation of vegan toffee enjoyment.
Due to cancellations caused by the pandemic, the field of participants in the Packaging category was not sufficiently representative this year to present the ISM Packaging Award powered by ProSweets Cologne. The jury therefore decided to honour certificates recognising the notable quality of entries from
bscg-group, Chocal Packaging Solutions GmbH and Energy Bullets.
Notably, the award ceremony and announcement of the winners took place in Cologne in the scope of the exclusive ISM Dinner on Sunday, 30 January 2022. This also saw Italian confectioner Luigi Zàini become the first recipient from his nation of the ISM Award, for exceptional services to the industry- with this year’s event attracting over 1,000 exhibitors from 56 countries.
