Confectionery Industry

Related terms:

Lactose, Glucose, Syrups, Cocoa Butter, Proteins, Mangoes, Pistachios, Gelatin,

Food Industry, Gum Arabic

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Robotics and automation for packaging

in the confectionery industry
J.S. Dai, in Robotics and Automation in the Food Industry, 2013

Abstract:
The confectionery industry is characterised by short runs and small batch produc-
tion, thus confectionery packaging is frequently accomplished manually, resulting in
wastage, injuries and hygiene issues. Automation of packaging in the confectionery
industry would reduce these problems; and the frequent change-overs due to the
large variety of products under manufacture necessitate an extremely versatile auto-
mated packaging system. This chapter describes market trends in the confectionery
industry and the industry’s packaging needs and reviews reconfigurable mecha-
nisms and the potential for flexible packaging automation in the confectionery
industry. A case study of a reconfigurable demonstration system is outlined.

> Read full chapter

New Products Require New Think-

ing—Ideas and Examples
Karl F. Tiefenbacher, in The Technology of Wafers and Waffles II, 2019

8.4.1.1 Market Expectations

Confectionery industry.com (2017) reviewed the biggest flavour, ingredients, and
sales trends for 2018. The top six expectations for ingredients & flavours were:

1. high cocoa content chocolate

2. natural colours

3. protein

4. spicy flavours

5. nut-based flavours

6. tropical fruit flavours.

The top-rated segments in sales potential were:

1. premium chocolate

2. seasonal products

3. functional confectionery

4. ‘snackfections’, meaning confectionery bits for snacking

5. breakfast biscuits

6. personalized confectionery.

Euromonitor International (2018) has released the eight most influential packaged
food megatrends for 2018 (here in condensed form):

1. Healthy Living: Back to Nature, Naturally Functional and No to Sugar

The food industries focus shifts from weight management to nutrition and natural
wellbeing. With sugar becoming the new villain in the obesity debate, savoury snacks
and healthy fats and grains make a comeback. ‘Naturally Functional’ centres around
the big trend of gut health, which has links with mental health and performance.
The rise in this trend concentrates on fermented food, ancient grains, probiotics,
and healthy fats.

2. Premiumization: Redefining Indulgence

Indulgence is and will always be a core driver in the food industry. However, con-
sumers crave different products for different occasions and in different geographies.
The definition of indulgence has been changed through ingredients, health, ethics,
and flavour.

3. Ethical Living: Plant-based and Origin Foods

Brought by ‘Generation X’, ethical living is the fastest spreading megatrend in foods,
with 30% of consumers reporting that they are shopping locally. There is a new
emphasis on plant-based and origin foods that utilize plant protein, insects, food
waste, or origin foods and provenance labels.

4. Experience More: From Buying to Creating

From buying to creating, consumers’ emphasis is shifting from possession to expe-

rience. Kellogg's offers Bear Naked custom-made cereals while KitKat gets personal
with on-pack promotion.

5. Shopping Reinvented: Alternative Business Models

By 2021, modern grocery (supermarkets and hypermarkets) will account for less than
half of the total consumer goods trade. In food distribution modern grocery is still
very important, but especially in Western markets, alternative business models, such
as subscription services and online/offline hybrids are growing strongly.

6. Shifting Market Frontiers: Global Exoticism

Resulting from rising immigration of the Muslim population across the world, this
trend impacts mainly cooking ingredients and meals. Food trends tend to track
migration, so 2018 is likely to see an increase of Syrian- and Middle Eastern-inspired
flavours in Western markets. Halal food is another area to watch.

7. Middle Class Retreat: Affordable Quality

This trend is becoming more apparent in down-trading and shrinking households

and impacts mainly staple food categories. The number of single-parent families in
the United States has doubled in the last 20 years. Low-income groups across the
world are growing at a much faster rate than a decade ago.

8. Connected Consumers: Food Technology

Becoming increasingly common in Asia Pacific, but also to metropolitan cities,

such as New York, London, and Hong Kong, the trend of product proposition is
manifesting itself via social platforms, digitally-enabled or enhanced supply chains,
and distribution practices.

In addition, a favourite buzzword for 2018 is disruption. Disruption has prompted

multinational companies and legacy brands to acquire start-ups or launch their own
innovation labs. These disruptive brands tend to simultaneously tap into several
megatrends and are agile and responsive to consumers’ changing needs; as such,
they innovate rapidly.
Innova Market Insights (2017) in its 2018 trend list predicts that ‘the increasingly
thoughtful and mindful consumer will continue to catalyse changes in the way that
companies produce, package, and label their products’. Innovas top five trends (here
in condensed form) for 2018 are:

1. Mindful Choices: Consumers are more conscious than ever about making
responsible food choices, and increasingly want to know what is in their food
and how it is produced. Increasingly, consumers want to know and understand
ingredient lists …
2. Lighter Enjoyment: Consumers continue to look for ways to eat and drink more
healthily, lightness in terms of alcohol content, sweetness, flavour, texture, or
even portion size is increasing its appeal …
3. Positively Processed: As consumers become more concerned about natural-
ness and minimal processing techniques, the industry is reviving traditional
processes, such as fermented foods.
4. Going Full Circle: The notion of closing the circle is increasingly taking hold,
with greater consumer expectation that companies and brands will be more
resource-smart via developments, such as tip-to-tail eating, innovative uses
for food waste, and more biodegradable and renewable packaging.
5. Beyond the Coffeehouse: While coffee is clearly trending among Millennial and
Generation Z consumers, tea is also seeking to reinvent itself among the
younger generations …

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SWEETS AND CANDIES | Sugar Con-

fectionery
W.P. Edwards, in Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition (Second Edition),
2003

Background
The confectionery industry is not a science-based industry: it is an industry that has
been built on the confectioner's craft. Confectionery is normally divided into three
classes: flour confectionery, chocolate confectionery, and sugar confectionery. Flour
confectionery covers products that are made from flour and are baked. Chocolate
confectionery consists of chocolate. Sugar confectionery covers the rest of confec-
tionery.
Confectionery making does share some technologies with the pharmaceutical in-
dustry, specifically tabletting, panning, and lozenge making. Most of the knowledge
available to early confectioners was empirical rather than scientific.

Sugar confectionery making is an international industry. Some of the terms in

use are clearly French in origin such as fondant (from fondre to dissolve), dragees,
and pastilles. Unlike chocolate confectionery, sugar confectionery has few legal
definitions. In some jurisdictions, caramel has a higher milk content than toffee,
but in others, the two terms are used interchangeably. The types of product known
as gums were undoubtedly originally made from the gum from Acacia senegal but
are now made from any suitable ingredient. Because sugar confectionery has a long
shelf-life and does not need controlled temperature storage, an international trade
in confectionery had developed by the nineteenth century.

In general, the important concepts in sugar confectionery are water activity, colliga-
tive properties, solubility, and the need to use a mixture of sugars. Toffees depend
on the Maillard reaction. High boilings require a sugar glass to form. Gums, jellies,
and licorice need the right rheology. Panned coatings depend on crystallization.
Chewing gum is a chewable piece of polymer chemistry. Aerated products are based
on stabilizing and setting a foam.

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Extrusion
Zeki Berk, in Food Process Engineering and Technology (Third Edition), 2018

15.5.7 Confectionery and Chocolate

Extrusion is now extensively used in the confectionery industry for mixing, cooking,
cooling, and forming in one step. Sugar, corn syrup, flour, starch, fruit concentrates,
fats, and other ingredients of the recipe are directly fed into twin-screw corotating
extruders, where the mixture is heated, mixed, and homogenized at high throughput
rate. The product is shaped by using the proper die and cutting method. In addition,
coextrusion of different materials allows the production of multicolored items such
as fruit twists as well as multiphase filled items. Materials with different viscosities,
from fondant to soft fruit jellies, can be handled. Volatile or heat-sensitive flavors are
usually added at the end of the extrusion cooking process.

Licorice candy is one of the confectionery items frequently produced by extrusion

(Gabriele and Cindio, 2001). Since the production of this candy requires cooking and
mixing of wheat flour with the licorice extract, sugar, etc. to form a homogeneous
mass, extrusion cooking is particularly suitable for the process.

Conching is one of the most important steps in the manufacture of chocolate.

Before molding, the chocolate mass is subjected to a process of conching, which
performs the functions of mixing, aerating, evaporation, homogenizing, and size
reduction. Conching is an intense mixing process in which the chocolate mass is
kneaded by heavy reciprocating rollers or by rotary blades. The heat generated by
friction liquefies the mass and causes the evaporation of water, acetic acid, and other
volatiles, while the shearing action helps reduce the size of the solid particles and
coats them uniformly with cocoa fat. Traditional conching is a slow process, taking
from a few hours to a few days. Extrusion performs the same functions in a much
shorter time (Aguilar et al., 1995). Considerable reduction in the energy expenditure
was reported when a special type of extruder (reciprocating multihole extruder) was
used in addition to the chocolate mixer (Jolly et al., 2003). The quality of chocolate
produced by fast conching in extruders is usually considered less good than that of
fine chocolate treated by conventional slow conching. On the other hand, extrusion
conching provides efficient thermal treatment and mixing of the chocolate.

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Tea by-products
L.Jagan Mohan Rao, K. Ramalakshmi, in Recent Trends in Soft Beverages, 2011

9.4.2 Use of tea dyes

Tea dyes may be widely used in the confectionery industry and in many other food
industries. Tea dyes can also be employed to colour soups, broths, sweets, desserts,
ice creams, and synthetic and artificial foods. Tea dyes are also used in the butter
and cheese industry, and in the manufacture of various skin creams, tooth pastes,
tooth elixirs, etc. Tea dyes rich in vitamin P may be well used in the manufacture of
lipsticks and hair dyes because those currently produced have a comparatively high
toxicity when interacting with cellulose and proteins. Tea dyes yield stable coloration,
therefore, they can be utilised in the textile and leather industries.

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Gum arabic
P.A. Williams, G.O. Phillips, in Handbook of Hydrocolloids (Second Edition), 2009

11.7.1 Confectionery
The major application of gum arabic is in the confectionery industry where it is
used in a variety of products including gums, pastilles, marshmallows and toffees.
Traditional wine gums incorporated gum arabic at concentrations of 40–55% and
wine was used to add flavour. During the preparation the gum is dissolved in water
keeping the temperature as low as possible (~ 60 °C) in order to avoid precipitation of
the proteinaceous components which would give rise to a turbid solution. The gum is
then added to a pre-boiled sugar/glucose solution (70%) followed by the flavourings
and colours. After standing to allow air bubbles to rise, any surface scum is removed
and the liquid deposited into starch trays which are placed in a stoving room for
4–6 days. The gums are then taken from the moulds, brushed to remove starch and
often glazed with oil or wax. Softer gums or pastilles can be obtained by reducing
the stoving time to 2–3 days. In recent times, because of gum shortages and price
fluctuations, considerable effort has been made to find replacements for gum arabic
and nowadays pastilles are prepared using gum arabic at much lower concentra-
tions in combination with other hydrocolloids, notably starch, maltodextrin, gelatin,
pectin and agar. In these formulations demixing may occur due to incompatibility
between the various hydrocolloids. The extent of demixing will depend on the rate
of gel formation induced by the other hydrocolloids present and will consequently
dictate the final texture obtained.

In marshmallows the gum is used as a foam stabiliser while in toffees it is used to

emulsify the fats present. Typical formulations are given in Tables 11.4 and 11.5.
Gum arabic is also used to form a glaze on coated nuts and similar products.

Table 11.4. Typical formulation for marshmallows

Water 39.0%
Sugar 37.0%
Dextrose 19.0%
Albumen 1.8%
Gum arabic 2.4%
Gelatin 0.5%
Salt 0.3%

Table 11.5. Typical formulation for caramel-type products

Corn syrup 38.4%

Sweet condensed whole milk 34.4%
Granulated sugar 9.6%
Invert sugar 9.6%
Hydrogenated vegetable oil 3.8%
Salt 0.2%
Gum arabic 4.0%

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MILLING | Types of Mill and Their

Uses
F. Meuser, in Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition (Second Edition), 2003

Stirrer Bead Mills

Stirrer bead mills are employed predominantly in the chocolate and confectionery
industry, although they may also be used in the delicatessen industry. They are used
for fine grinding (1–50 μm) of raw cocoa and chocolate, as well as in the production
of peanut and hazelnut fillings and in the manufacture of mustard. (See MUSTARD
AND CONDIMENT PRODUCTS.)

Stirrer bead mills comprise a cylindrical or conical rotor body which moves in a
corresponding stator body. In the example illustrated (Figure 7), a gap (2–25 mm)
is formed between the conical rotor and the stator, and in this gap the beads move
radially outwards from the centre. The material is thus ground uniformly, resulting
in a close particle size distribution. The geometry of the grinding space insures that
every single grain in the suspension passes along the prescribed path through the
grinding /element. The suspension is fed into the mill through a central inlet and
discharged through an outlet attachment near the shaft, the beads being separated
from the ground material at the same time.
Figure 7. Coball mill. Courtesy of FRYMA-Maschinen AG, Rheinfelden, Switzerland.

A large number of different settings is possible for this mill, depending on the
fineness of grinding required, as not only the rotor speed may be freely selected
but also the width of the gap between rotor and stator, the number of beads, the
material of which they are made (glass, steel, ceramic, etc.), their diameter, and the
rate of flow of the suspension. The rotor, stator, and cover of the mill can be cooled
so that it is possible to maintain the suspension at a moderate temperature.

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PALM KERNEL OIL

K.G. Berger, in Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition (Second Edition), 2003

Food Uses of Palm Kernel Products

The most important applications of palm kernel oil products are in the confectionery
industry, where its high solid fat content and sharp melting characteristics are
important. However, palm kernel oil itself melts at too low a temperature for some
applications. It is therefore hydrogenated to give a variety of products, one of which
is indicated in Table 5. Hydrogenated palm kernel oil is suitable for chocolate-type
couvertures for biscuits and sugar confectionery, and for biscuit cream fillings.
 Hydrogenated palm kernel oil is also used to replace butterfat in filled milk, coffee
creamers, and imitation cream. The higher-melting-point grades tend to leave
a waxy residue on the palate. They can be improved by fractionating to remove
the highest melting point components. A superior and more expensive product
is obtained by the direct fractionation of palm kernel oil. The stearin has good
contraction when it solidifies and is therefore suitable for molded chocolate. (See
COCOA | Production, Products, and Use.)

The palm kernel olein produced is the lower-value fraction. It may be hydrogenated
(Table 5) to give a range of confectionery fats of somewhat lower quality. Alterna-
tively, palm kernel olein is used in margarine blends. It is a useful component of
interesterified mixtures for various applications (Table 6).

Table 6. Interesterified blends using palm kernel oil products

Oil % Solid fat content % Application

at:
20 °C 25 °C 30 °C 35 °C 40 °C
Palm ker- 75 53 15 3 0 Biscuit fil-
nel olein ling cream
Palm 25
stearin
Palm ker- 75} 46 24 9 Chocolate
nel olein soft center
Cotton 25}a
seed oil
stearin
Same b 66 40 23 Couver-
blend ture
Hardened 70} 80 63 43 21 3 Whipping
palm cream
kernel oil
Palm 30}
stearin

a After interesterification, hydrogenated to iodine value 17.

b After interesterification, hydrogenated to iodine value 8.

Palm kernel oil without modification is used for chocolate coatings for icecream bars,
usually in a blend with liquid oil or palm oil to give the right consistency without
excessive brittleness.

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