Swiss equipment business Trikno delivers ProSweets major global first for chocolate tempering
Marc Fuchs (right of image) welcomes the prospects for the TNT tempering system. Pic: Neill Barston
A major technology breakthrough from Swiss business Trikno has been exhibited at this week’s ProSweets event, as it unveils its Tempered Nozzle Technology (TNT) for what is believed to be a world first in delivering ‘just-in-time’ tempering for chocolate, writes Neill Barston.
As the company, which recently acquired the Knobel group, explained at the show in Cologne, Germany, its solution is based upon a scalable and temperable 3D print head, featuring a temperable extruder unit, which will be available in various diameters.TNT technology is a ground-breaking development in chocolate processing.
Notably, as the business revealed, its latest system has targeted extremely detailed, ultra-fine machine decorations and labelling of products with maximum repeat accuracy. The tempered extruder unit makes it possible to create three-dimensional structures with chocolate tempered directly in the nozzles, comparable to a 3D printer. The number of extruder nozzles can be adjusted as required, allowing a high degree of flexibility and adaptability to a wide range of production requirements.
Furthermore, its just-in-time tempering has been created to ensure precise control of the chocolate consistency and enables unprecedented fineness and detail in the decoration. By continuously dispensing tempered chocolate with uniform pressure, extremely fine, repeatable lines and dots can now be created by machine.
As the company added, high-quality chocolate manufacturers who place the highest value on fine and detailed decorations will benefit from TNT technology. This innovative solution supports the realisation of creative chocolate ideas that were previously difficult to implement by machine.
In addition direct tempering of the extruder nozzle unit in the 3D print head leads to immediate and distortion-free control over the temperature of the chocolate and can therefore increase the quality of the decorations. Tempering in the print head during the ongoing decoration process also effectively reduces the energy required for tempering, which is a key consideration for its sustainability credentials.
Speaking to Confectionery Production at ProSweets, CEO Marc Fuchs, explained there had been a positive response at the show for its breakthrough innovation, stating that the ‘sky is open’ in terms of its potential for both smaller artisan and larger scale confectionery manufacturing operations.
As he noted, having come from a background working for major equipment and solutions businesses including many years working for Bühler, he believed that helping lead the business forward offered an engaging challenge.
He said: “This is our proof of concept, and our next step is to develop a prototype machine, and define the number of print heads for it, and bring the machine to a customer application, collect feedback and then optimise it from there. We’re here to find a customer who is willing to go to the next step with us.
“We’re showing the TNT in proof of concept form to demonstrate that the chocolate is properly tempered, and have been making a lot of measurements, and have done a lot of lab trials to show that things like its positioning and speed are good. Our mission is to collaborate with customers and develop together. We’ve already had some enquiries about TNT here at ProSweets, so I think we’ll be busy, which is great.”
As he added, the company, which employs 60 people within Switzerland, had already made significant investments into the TNT system’s initial research and development programme during the past year, which he believed would make notable inroads into the market. See our next edition of Confectionery Production for more on this story.
