Businesses from around the globe gain honours at the World Confectionery Conference

A wealth of industry talent was celebrated on Thursday afternoon, as six winners emerged triumphant with accolades at the World Confectionery Conference as it made a successful return to Brussels in Belgium, reports Neill Barston.

Among those recognised at the event, which was held at the NHow Bloom hotel in the capital city were Colombia’s Luker Chocolate, which claimed the top spot in the Sustainability initiative of the year category, recognising its ongoing dedication to ethical sourcing practices that have offered significant support to farming communities.

The company has previously featured strongly within our conference, including European sales manager Paul Morris (pictured left) being a speaker on our last visit to Belgium two years ago, who was on hand to collect the business’s latest World Confectionery Award at our key show marking the 90th anniversary of Confectionery Production magazine.

 

Meanwhile, British confectionery business, Hames Chocolates gained the accolade for the finished product of the year with its revamped hot chocolate stirrers proving a hit with judges from our editorial board members, who recognised the overall quality of the company’s latest series.

Managing director of the business, Carol Oldbury (pictured below), was on hand to collect her company’s honours. Vegan confectionery brand Nomo were also highly commended within the category.

For its part in the ingredients stakes, Germany’s Gelita won honours in its specialist field, with the company putting forward its Soluform solution which has focused on sugar reduction applications for the confectionery sector, which the company explored in its presentation for this year’s event. Belgian firm Puratos gained a highly commended accolade for its Belcolade solutions.

Furthermore, the Team of the Year category also proved another hotly contested category, which was won by British business, Sweetdreams (pictured below), with judges recognising the strides made by the company in expanding its operations under new ownership, and developing its flagship Choc Nibbles brand. Germany’s Syntegon brand, Makat, claimed the runner-up spot in the category.

Andy Baxendale, of Sweetdreams confectionery, claims its team of the year award.

Notably, within the equipment of the year category, the UK’s DT&G Ltd claimed the top prize, for its collaborative initiative working with several key businesses including Germany’s Rinsch, creating a complete manufacturing line from each individual business. Managing director of DT&G, Lyn Pitt was on hand to claim honours alongside her fellow collaborative firms.

This year saw a new category created for the event, the Emerging Enterprise of the year, which was claimed by Germany’s Planet A, specialising in producing an alternative lab-developed cocoa and  chocolate product ranges, which have gained market traction over the past two years with its Choviva brand being taken up by supermarkets in its home nation. The business was unable to attend on the night, but sent a video message of thanks for its accolade (below).

The evening also saw highly commended honours given to equipment businesses, Cama and Kruger & Salecker (below), in what proved another fiercely contended category, with this year’s honours receiving the most number of entries we have had to date.

 

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