The firm has developed a one-shot technology for depositing double-ball lollipops on its ServoForm range of depositors.
‘Improved’ mouth-feel
Baker Perkins spokesperson Keith Graham claimed that the double-ball lollipops had an improved mouthfeel than single-ball counterparts.
“It fits the shape of the standard mouth better than a single-ball product does," he told ConfectioneryNews.
“It’s a brand new thing. There are one or two around making them in Asia using our technology.”
“You could previously make the shape with some other technologies but what you couldn’t do is make the top and bottom different.”
He said that you could have different combinations of flavors such as sweet and sour and use a variety of flavors for a single product.
Interest from Asia
Graham suggested that the Asian market could take to the concept.
“Asia is a good market for hard candy at the moment and the interest is in products that are truly novel.”
But could such a shape work in the more mature North American or European markets?
“There’s no reason why it shouldn’t work elsewhere, it’s just that Asian markets tend to accept new candy products a bit more readily than in developed countries who tend to stick to what they know,” said Graham.
Cost implications
He said machinery costs for the double-ball shape were on par with the single-ball machine, but would be slightly more if a double head depositor was required to create stripes.
Graham added that while most lollipops were 12-15 g, there was no reason why a double-ball couldn’t be smaller to save on ingredients costs while keeping the novel shape.
Baker Perkins claimed in a release that depositing offered greater quality and production flexibility, with lower production costs, than traditional methods such as die forming, starch mogul or cut-and-wrap.