Loders Croklaan innovation centre targets confectioners
The company said its conference room, laboratory and tasting area at the Wormerveer facility would help a wide selection of customers from multi-national companies to medium-sized local producers to dream up new products and turn them into commercial realities.
Equipment
Marketing manager Jan-Paul Back told ConfectioneryNews.com that a typical workshop, lasting one or two days, would start with brainstorming new products which could then be made on a pilot scale in the laboratory.
“The Creative Studio has been set up as a small chocolate factory, with state of the art conches, roller refiner, cooling tunnel etc.,” he said. “The Studio has extensive test facilities so the products can be tested on several critical parameters like texture and speed of crystallization.”
“When the artisanal product is to the liking of everybody, our own application experts will help translate the artisanal recipe into a composition that is suitable for large scale processing.”
Industry support
Back said staff from Loders Croklaan had experience working as technical experts for chocolate companies and specialise in the characteristics of chocolate, chocolate coatings and bakery fillings, where fats are a critical ingredient.
The Dutch firm has also teamed up with chocolatier Arthur Tuytel, who, along with the company’s own technical personnel, will provide a formulation applicable to large scale processing, taking into account shelf-life, speed of processing and customer facilities. Back also said the workshops would be tailored to meet the requirements of individual customers.
He added that several firms had expressed interest in the studio, which opened last Thursday, and said the original concept of the site was discussed with key customers beforehand to make sure it suit their needs.
