Entries for our World Confectionery Awards have continued to make their way to us ahead of our final deadline at the end of next week, as we seek to celebrate notable innovation across the industry, reports Neill Barston.

Our accolades, which have now been operating for the past five years, have out to spotlight genuine breakthroughs for the complete value chain, from high quality new chocolate and sweets, through to ingredients, equipment, and systems developments, we have seen a broad range of entrants make their mark in recent years. (You can download an entry form from our dedicated website at confectioneryconference.com) which must be returned to us by the end of next week. Winners of our six categories will be presented with their accolades at the World Confectionery Conference in London on 10 September a One America Square venue.

Among nominations for our 2026 event is Netherlands-based Royal Avebe, which has devised a novel ingredients solution in the form of its PefectaGel Iset, an instant-setting modified potato starch which has asserted significant time and energy savings for product manufacturers.

As the business noted, traditional processing for starch and plant-based gummies is between 36-72 hours of drying, which makes drying rooms the biggest bottleneck, inflating energy consumption, carbon footprint, and manufacturing costs.

In response, in a bid to eliminate this constraint, Avebe’s PerfectaGel fast-drying portfolio introduces two new potato starch technologies that accelerate setting and drying while delivering a soft, elastic texture closer to gelatin.

Its latest series claims a capability of its potato starch forming gels in minutes rather than hours, reducing typical drying times from up to 72 hours to as little as 3 hours, depending on the application.

According to the business, it is believed to be the first starch proven to perform in both traditional starch-moulded and rigid (starchless) mould systems.  It also unlocks vitamin- and mineral-enriched vegan gummies, which are hard to make today: pectin gels poorly once vitamins and minerals shift the pH, and long drying can degrade sensitive nutrients. ISET sets fast and stays stable across pH, overcoming both barriers.

Notably, as the company added, its latest solution is also a clean-label, added at approximately 1% to existing recipes. Compatible with corn or potato starch-based systems, it can reportedly reduce drying time or temperature by up to 50% without equipment changes or reformulation. In foamed gummies it enables ambient-temperature drying (approximately 23°C), freeing cabinet capacity while reducing energy use.

The portfolio also works in hybrid starch-gelatin formulations, not only plant-based recipes. Together, these technologies have a noted impact on production economics. Because the drying cabinet sets the ceiling on factory output, faster drying does not simply save time; it multiplies what existing equipment can deliver. 

A 50% reduction doubles available cabinet time, while ISET’s shift from 72 hours to 3 unlocks throughput without major capital investment, which as the business noted offers a considerable sustainability gain.

Confectionery Production editor Neill Barston added: “As with previous years, our annual awards really are a chance for us as a title to help celebrate genuine innovation within the industry across all its forms.

“It has become a valuable element of our World Confectionery Conference, so if you have yet to do so, then register your place to take part in our event as it moves to London on 10 September, placing some of the hottest topics in the industry under the microscope.”

= The deadline for this year’s World Confectionery Awards, which will be presented at the World Confectionery Conference (which is judged by our independent advisory body as well as our own experienced team), is 23 July 2026, please place your nominations (which are entirely free across our six categories including finished products, ingredients, team of the year, equipment, emerging enterprise and sustainability, via our confectioneryconference.com website where you can download a form to us as soon as possible by the end of next week.