The international supplier fair for the sweets and snacks industry is held in conjunction with ISM, featuring more than 1,500 exhibitors attracting 35,000 buyers from around the world.
Gluten-free
This year, manufacturers are focusing on ‘less is more’ in response to consumer interest in natural ingredients, sugar-reduced sweets and snacks, and lactose and gluten-free alternatives.
To adapt to different product demands exhibitors will be showcasing systems that allow for faster change over times for shorter product lifecycles, flexibility in primary and secondary packaging and integration of tools for value-add features.
At ProSweets, Döhler will be focusing on baked goods with reduced-sugar fruit preparations and sweetening components used as a sugar substitute for crunchy biscuits as part of its ‘Multi-Sensory Experiences’ with added healthy value.
Mirko Schnitzler, head of global sales, Döhler, said like in all food and beverage sectors, ‘sugar reduction’, or the reduction of refined sugar, is one of the most important issues in the confectionery and baked goods industry.
According to a survey carried out by Döhler Sensory & Consumer Science, more than two-thirds of consumers consider the statement ‘reduced sugar’ important.
“As a producer with its own processing facilities for natural raw materials, Döhler offers an extensive portfolio of natural ingredients, including natural flavors, natural colors, health and nutrition ingredients, cereal ingredients, dairy and dairy-free ingredients, speciality ingredients, dry ingredients, fruit and vegetable ingredients and ingredient systems for all product applications, which will be presented at ProSweets,” he said.
Schnitzler added consumers and parents place more importance on naturalness, even with pure indulgence products, and they want ingredients that are as natural as possible which have only undergone a few processing steps.
Raspberry-mascarpone filling
Döhler will showcase its chocolate with ginger or strawberry crunches, pralines with a raspberry-mascarpone filling or whole, freeze-dried blueberries, fruit gums and cola-flavored biscuits to a name a few.
Schur Flexibles believes consumers are attracted by products that are packaged in a way that promises sustainability or suggests a return to traditional materials.
In regard to this, the company will be focusing on super thin materials – it claims its SuperThin uses up to 30% less packaging material; waxed paper and laminates.
The SuperThin range is tear-resistant and includes metallic films between 3µm and 19µm that withstand folding or turning, for packaging chocolate tablets, individual chocolates or hollow chocolate figures.
Its waxed paper range can be used for sticky sweets, based on a technology that uses natural, untreated wax to coat the paper, which is more biodegradable than paraffin-based materials. The base waxes can be modified with polymers and additives to increase the shine of the paper's surface and to optimize its sealability.
Wacker will present its CANDY2GUM technology at the tradeshow, which it claims can produce confectionery with a completely new mouth-feel, demonstrating a 3D printing process to use chewing gum in customizable shapes.
The technology alters the texture of confectionery and opens up new opportunities for flavors and ingredients for chewing gum including fruit juice, coffee, milk, caramel, chocolate, coconut and plant extracts.