Breaking News on Confectionery & Biscuit Processing

Packaging innovation centred on convenience, analysts

25-Nov-2010 - Beverage packaging design will revert away from a recent shift towards cost effectiveness, and back to longer-term trends such as added value and convenience, as countries begin to emerge from the recession, according to industry analyst Canadean.

Rexam defends green credentials of beverage can

15-Nov-2010 - Talking from the Brau Beviale trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany, Rexam executive John Revess outlined the lobbying and marketing work needed to improve the environmental image of the beverage can.

Exclusive interview

Beverage market to return to 2008 levels in two years - Krones

15-Nov-2010 - Leading beverage filling and packaging technology company Krones reported a number of drink makers signing on the dotted line at German trade show Brau Beviale last week, and we caught up with executive chairman of the board, Volker Kroneseder, to get the company’s perspective on market growth.

Stockley’s Sweets invests in new production line

15-Nov-2010 - Blackburn based Stockley’s Sweets has invested £100,000 in a new production line that has boosted its capacity by 25%.

News in brief

M&S, Cadbury, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Nestlé UK and Alara Wholefoods join the lineup at Food Manufacture's Sustainable Supply Chain conference

12-Nov-2010 - If doing your bit for the planet used to be a good way of earning a few brownie points, it is now increasingly becoming a condition of doing business with the nation’s biggest food retailers.

New CBE blend claims to cut processing costs

10-Nov-2010 - A new cocoa butter equivalent (CBE) blend claims to cut costs and ease “processing complexities” for confectionery manufacturers, said Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM).

Biofilm busting enzyme boosts plant hygiene

08-Nov-2010 - FoodProductionDaily.com caught up with Realco at the recent IPA trade show in Paris to discuss biofilms and the company’s breakthrough in tackling these slime layers that pose a constant contamination threat for food processors.

TNA appoints new European general manager

08-Nov-2010 - Food packaging and processing equipment supplier, Tna has appointed design engineer, Tim Moulsdale, as its new European general manager.

Exclusive interview

Minister notes hike in French food processing equipment exports

03-Nov-2010 - French Minister for Industry Christian Estrosi gave an exclusive interview to FoodProductionDaily.com at the recent food processing trade show, IPA, in Paris

Qadex simplifies traceability with new ingredient specification system

01-Nov-2010 - Qadex is launching a product specification system that will enable manufacturers to provide a full description and history of food and drink ingredients and packaging in retailer-friendly formats.

UK pumps £4.2m into food and drink training

29-Oct-2010 - A new £4.2m funding project will cover 50 per cent of employee training costs in the UK food and drink industry and aims to deliver flexible training courses in addition to full qualifications.

Retailer claims UK first for compostable chocolate box tray

25-Oct-2010 - UK supermarket chain, Marks & Spencer, said its entire Swiss chocolate range will now feature a corn starch-based Plantic tray to hold the chocolates, while the outer-box, it added, is made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified cardboard.

Dispatches from IPA 2010

Ceramic insulation wins IPA research innovation award for JBT FoodTech

21-Oct-2010 - JBT FoodTech said the development of its latex based ceramic insulation system – an IPA innovation award winner this week - was informed by insights gained from space shuttle engineering.

DISPATCHES FROM IPA 2010

SPX hungry for growth in food, brewing and emerging markets

20-Oct-2010 - FoodProductionDaily.com caught up with Patrick Dowling of SPX Flow Technology at IPA 2010 to talk about the company’s strategies for acquisition and sector growth.

New approach allows rapid honey trace element analysis, says Thermo Fisher

20-Oct-2010 - A new quality control method for honey facilitates faster trace element analysis while reducing operational costs, claims its developer Thermo Fisher Scientific.

DISPATCHES FROM IPA 2010

Flexible snap-open pouch claimed to eliminate food waste

18-Oct-2010 - A new flexible single portion sachet made from high barrier laminates is said to adhere to consumer demand for easy opening packs and eliminate residual food from the packaging.

New process method could boost Malaysian cocoa output

13-Oct-2010 - A scheme based on a computer-aided process simulation tool can optimise the cocoa manufacturing process in Malaysia and double output, claims new research.

Bosch to build Indian packaging plant on soaring food and bev demand

11-Oct-2010 - Bosch has unveiled plans to build a new €4m packaging machinery plant in India to meet burgeoning demand growth from the country’s food, beverage and pharmaceutical sectors.

Bon Bon Buddies aims to expand further in Europe

04-Oct-2010 - UK based confectionery company Bon Bon Buddies (BBB) has announced its plans to expand further in Europe through the development of its production facilities and the current relaunch of its premium chocolate brand Kshocolât.

Support sought for carbon slashing sweet stoving methods

04-Oct-2010 - The Carbon Trust hopes industrial scale trials evaluating the drying of gums and jellies using technologies such as microwave based curing will help move the UK confectionery industry towards less energy intensive processes than the conventional stoving methods.

SPECIAL EDITION: ROBOTICS

Advancing technology and lower costs could fuel meat sector uptake of robotics

04-Oct-2010 - Greater hygiene, improved consistency of operation and greater productivity are all key advantages to be realised from using robotics in meat processing and packaging, said the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL).

Leaf Holland transfers production to Slovakian site

01-Oct-2010 - Dutch-Swedish confectioner Leaf Holland is to increase capacity by 13 per cent at its Slovakian plant with the transfer of its Malaco brand powder line from its facility in south Denmark.

Special edition: Robotics

Robots establish themselves in beverage and dairy industries

01-Oct-2010 - In the third part of our special edition on robotics in the food industry we explore how robots are becoming a more common sight in the dairy and beverage sectors.

Special edition: Robotics

Robots still a nascent technology in confectionery processing

30-Sep-2010 - Robot-based product packaging and palletizing remain the areas for quick wins in the confectionery sector but robots, albeit in the leading EU based confectioners, are gradually taking on more tasks a step earlier at the processing stage.