Germany’s ZDS set for key World Confectionery Conference presentation
pic: Neill Barston
Germany’s ZDS central college of the confectionery industry has played a key role over the past 70 years. Neill Barston meets its managing director, Andreas Bertram, ahead of his presentation at our World Confectionery Conference.
Having successfully helped train the next generation of confectionery sector specialists for more than 70 years, the ZDS German confectionery college, has built quite a legacy.
From its founding moments, the organisation has sought to offer a platform for technical excellence in the sector, which has contributed to the country being renowned as among the strongest perform- ing in terms of both equipment and new product development.
As ZDS managing director Andreas Bertram explains, its major milestone has meant an awful lot to the college, which is continuing a mission to set the standard for education provision within the industry.
Moreover, he says that plans for this year’s Choco Tec event, which is to be held at the Congress Centre north, at Kolenmesse in Cologne, Germany, are progressing strongly.
The sector showcase, which is held every two years, was forced to take place as an on- line event in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, yet the team behind the event were encouraged by the continued support for it in online form as a series of web seminars.
But as Andreas notes, proposals for its latest edition, due to take place between 13-15 December 2022, are coming together strongly, despite wider market challenges.
“We realised that we were unable to hold our 2020 event due to the pandemic, but we are looking forward to welcoming everyone again later this, and we believe we’re going to have a great event,” enthuses the director on the show.
The event has typically attracted more than 300 visitors from 19 countries representing the global chocolate sector. This year is no different, with its compre- hensive programme has been put together under a banner of “Choco Tec, be part of the change,” focusing on trends, technology, sustainability and markets.
This year’s programme is already taking strong shape, with contributions from Euromonitor on trends, BDSI trade body, Ritter Sport, Beneo, Nestle, Cargill, HDM, Sollich and Buhler.
Beyond the central conference pro- gramme, Andreas reveals there has been some particularly notable work from its organising committee in bringing together some additional new features for this year’s industry showcase, that he will be noting as he takes to the stage at our World Confectionery Conference in Brussels.
He will be using our key event to explore some of the training possibilities that have proved decisive for many emerging talents within the industry, in supplying them with the core skills to compete in a competitive sector.
“We have some new features this year at our event for example – as well as well as our foyer exhibition and our confectionery processing focus, we will have a ‘start-up corner,’ which will give young companies in the chocolate world the chance to be visible at our event,” he enthuses on the progress being made for the show.
As he adds, the conference has now been running for more than 30 years alongside its other series of training events, and has become a focal point for its operations.
“Choco Tec has become our biggest way of communicating with the industry, and people attend it for more than the seminar content alone, and want to be there to meet all the other businesses that are part of our industry. Personally, I think it’s the event that really makes a difference for
us with its international focus, and we’re really looking forward to its return.”
You can still register for the World Confectionery Conference, taking place on 9 September, at www.confectioneryconference.com. To register for Choco Tec, visit www.zds-solingen.de