Quadro-shot tech for premium chocolate grabs consumer eye

In the war for sales, technology that provides chocolate makers with the means to attract, and maintain, the consumer eye is a potent weapon.

At the recent ProSweets fair in Cologne, Germany, Pfäffikon-based Awema presented its quadro-shot technology that allows manufacturers to run with two different pralines, in a bi-coloured chocolate shell.

"The two different colours are an eye-catching appeal for the consumer, they are not a standard truffle ball, and when cut in half, the consumer sees two different creams,"​ Andreas Fischli, a spokesperson for Awema said to ConfectioneryNews.com.

According to Fischli, their depositing type of innovation is "quite rare"​ on the market, although demand in general is increasing and they already have "a few customers using this technology"​.

One-shot technology​

One-shot technology, developed in the late 1950s, is based on the synchronised discharge of filling and shell mass into a mould. A technique suited for the production of almost all filled chocolate items, notably pralines, truffles, filled bars using the Long One-Shot technique and filled napolitains, and razor-thin After Eight-style mint plates.

In the past, Awema explains that praline shells were irregular and disproportionately thick, often more than 60 per cent of the praline's weight. Today, the proportion of the shell can be reduced to under 20 per cent and 'spread very evenly', due to 'high-performance electronics and intelligent software'.

While the manufacturing of most of a praline assortment is covered by the standard Awema one-shot package, the optional quadro-shot extension - or software bundle - enables up to four ingredients to be processed simultaneously, adds the Swiss firm.

"The baby machine - micro 100 - is targeted at SMEs with space constraints, and will run up to 100 kg of normal filled one-shot chocolate or double this when switched to solid chocolate, "​ said Fischli.

Their larger machines, destined for the Nestles and Cadburys of the confectionery world, can run up to two tonnes of one-shot chocolate.

Bank liquidity impacts machine purchases​

Despite billions of euros injected by various national governments into the banking systems across Europe, credit and liquidity are still crucial issues impacting all industries.

Andreas Fischli points out that as a machinery supplier, Awema customers invariably need credit from the bank to make the investment in the machines. But in today's cash-strapped economy, achieving full credit for their purchases is becoming a challenge.