The National Confectioners Association (NCA) will once again host The Candy Bar Lounge at this year’s Pack Expo Las Vegas sponsored by  The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI).

The Candy Bar Lounge (Booth S-7900) will serve as a networking destination for NCA’s industry experts and their customers. On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the NCA invites all manufacturers of candy, chocolate and gum to a reception at The Candy Bar Lounge. The association’s annual event provides an additional opportunity for industry professionals to make new connections, discuss innovations and reconnect with the industry’s leading influencers.

“The Candy Bar Lounge provides the opportunity for OEMs and CPGs in the confectionery industry to convene and exchange ideas,” says Charles D. Yuska, president and ceo, PMMI. “Attendees have reported great value from these market specific meeting places.”

“This lounge is a dedicated area where we can come together to learn the latest innovations and solutions to challenges in the confectionery industry,” says John Holland, managing partner, Sollich North America, LLC and member of NCA. “There is so much value in having this opportunity to talk with those experiencing the same issues as me and sharing insights to overcome those challenges.”

PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2015 is co-located with Pharma EXPO 2015, a joint venture from PMMI and the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Sept. 28-30. The two shows have over 800,000 net square feet of combined exhibit space and are expected to attract 30,000 packaging and processing professionals and more than 2,000 exhibiting companies.

Registration is $30 through Sept. 14, when it increases to $100. Register for PACK EXPO and Pharma EXPO at www.packexpolasvegas.com.

1. Multifilm

Multifilm specializes in piece-wraps for the confectionery industry, such as twist wraps and flow wraps, along with high-barrier laminates and other specialty solutions. Multifilm will be introducing several new products at this year’s Pack Expo.

New this year is PeelSeal, a PP-based sealant web that is both easy to open and provides hermetic seals for high barrier, gas-flushed applications. While peelable films and easy open solutions have been around for a while, PeelSeal is unique in that it will provide hermetic seals and lap seals to oriented polypropylene films. This makes PeelSeal the perfect material to use in quad seal VFFS bags that are quickly becoming great alternatives to rigid paper boxes with a plastic liner bag.

Multifilm will also be introducing its newest division, called Multifoil. It is a wholly owned subsidiary operation that focuses on unmounted aluminum foil for confectionery applications such as bunch-wrapped seasonal chocolate shapes, peanut butter cups, and chocolate bars.

Multifoil is North America’s most modern foil processing plant, with wide-web flexo printing up to 10 colors on state-of-the-art equipment, using industry leading expertise and raw materials. Multifoil also offers wax lamination of foil, and is capable of stripe laminating foil to film to create a reverse-printed, European style twist wrap that is ideal for high-end chocolates.

The company will also be displaying several samples using its de-metallization process, called D-Met.

For more information, visit www.multifilm.com or stop by booth S-6422.

2. Bosch Packaging Technology

At Pack Expo in Las Vegas, Bosch will show its HLM 35 Jumbo Roto Step (RS) for high-speed starch moulding of gummi and fondant-based products. The HLM 35 RS features a series of individual dual servo-electric drives, providing secure operation and optimization of all movements.

Its flexibility is enhanced with the ability to produce jellies of different shapes, sizes and types including striped, side-by-side, double-layered and filled jellies, ensuring exact weight, shape and coloring.

Outstanding output is achieved with a running speed of up to 35 trays per minute with a tray width of approximately 1,200 millimeters. The machine`s integrated Roto Step advancing system features individual tray movement rather than using chains for transport between stacker and feeder, reducing wear and enabling higher precision.

Visitors at the show will also have the chance to view new and existing solutions for vertical and horizontal packing.

For more information, visit www.boschpackaging.com or stop by booth C-2800.

3. Bühler

Discover Bühler efficiency, innovation and value. At Pack Expo in Las Vegas, the company will present the latest innovations for the food industry, demonstrating its keen understanding of current consumer trends and sharing its global expertise.

Bühler is the world’s leading technology partner for the food industry. Whatever you produce, Bühler offers you solutions to transform high-quality ingredients into the highest-quality end products. As a leading expert, Bühler is always on top of international markets and consumer needs. This is evident in our new developments, which will be on display at Pack Expo 2015, booth 8001, South Upper Hall.

On display will be Bühler’s newest solution for small batch chocolate and compound masses, SmartChoc, consisting of a bead mill, mixer and conch. This combination provides a cost-efficient solution for numerous applications. Two options are available – SmartChoc for compound masses and SmartChoc Plus for chocolate. Due to its modular design, it is easily extendable and provides a smart and easy-to-use control concept.

Let us inspire you! Visit Bühler at Pack Expo to see what we can do for you.

For more information, visit www.buhlergroup.com  or stop by booth S-8001

4. Carle & Montanari-OPM/CMFIMA

Carle & Montanari-OPM and CMFIMA will present the company’s most important innovations for its complete range of products, including cocoa and chocolate processing, moulding, wrapping, primary and secondary packaging at the Pack Expo show in Las Vegas.

Through explicative real videos and 3D animations the two companies will show all the products from their six products lines, beginning with chocolate pre-refining and continuing with cartoning. Vistors will see the special new depositor AERO CORE, based on the AILP (Always In-Line Pistons) technology for dosing aerated pressurized masses and all the monostyle and multistyle high-speed wrapping machines from CMFIMA, for all different kinds of chocolate (any style of pralines, tablets & bars, hollow figures & eggs) and candies.

The company is also offering the most prominent technology in bakery primary packing, with specific solutions to flow-wrap anything from bread to layer cakes, crackers, cookies, wafers and much more.

For more information, visit www.cm-opm.com or stop by booth S-7908.

5. Chocotech

Chocotech will exhibit the Ecograv at Pack Expo in Las Vegas at Sollich North America’s booth, S-8006. This unit is designed to achieve big savings in energy consumption in candy cooking processes.

Customers can realize more than 50 percent savings compared to traditional processes in the production of hard and chewy candies.

Starting with 90 percent total solids in the batch weigher, the Ecograv needs to cook out only small amounts of water to achieve the final residual water level in the product. Even higher savings of 60% are possible on products like frappé and fondant.

Another advantage of the Ecograv stems from the flexibility of a gravimetrical weighing system, which enables easy recipe and ingredient changes. The whole unit is backed up by PLC, which handles recipe control, recipe storage and temperature control, etc.

On existing lines, the old batch weigher can be replaced by an Ecograv. Depending on the capacity and the energy costs of the location, the payback can be rather quick.

The Ecograv skid also houses a CIP pump.  As the skid-mounted vessels in the system are already equipped with 360° rotating spray balls, it is easy to either connect to an existing CIP unit or run an individual loop on the unit.

For more information, visit www.chocotech.de or stop by booth S-8006

6. FastTrack Engineering

During the last decade FastTrack Engineering (FTE)  has established itself as a reliable mogul equipment supplier, not only in the United States and Mexico, but also in the European and Asian markets, installing  moguls as well as auxillary equipment, such as  starch conditioning systems, sugar sanders, oilers and the accompanying conveying systems.

The company can also provide a turnkey solution, beginning with the mogul and continuing to the curing of the product, inculding sophisticated drying and conditioning rooms with an automated pallet transportation system.  This system eliminates a substantial number of manual operations with controls for the operator, which can easily be called up by the recipe selection, available from the touch screen located on the master control panel.

The touch screen  gives the operator total control of every aspect for the mogul as well as the all ancilliary equipment related to the operation. All aspects of recipe selection are controlled from the touch screen, such as volume control, temperature control for the hoppers and many other key elements.

The machines available from FTE are equipped with the latest technology in the marketplace.

For more information, visit www.ftengineering.com.au

7. Haas Group

The Haas Group, which consists of Haas-Meincke, CFT Haas Convenience Food Equipment, Haas-Mondomix and FHW Franz Haas Waffelmaschinen, prides itself on generating product ideas. Most recently, at the iba show in Munich, Germany, the company offered up more than 120 end-products in its ideation tunnel.

To demonstrate its capabilities, the company debuted its center-filled cake line. Originally developed in Asia, center-filled cakes are made from fluffy sponge cake batter in special shapes such as animals or apples and filled with delicious fillings. As one can imagine, these cakes are very popular with children.

Another innovation catching the eye of manufacturers involved colored  hollow wafer sticks and pillow-shaped wafer sticks with aerated cream.

The crunchy wafer sticks are made with colored stripes (up to three colors) and come in different flavors. Wafer sticks are often dipped into chocolate, filled with cream and decorated or glazed.

Pillow-shaped wafer sticks are simply closed wafer sticks filled with sweet or savory fillings.

For more information visit www.haasgroup.com

8. Hebenstreit

Hebenstreit nowadays is not only a worldwide well-known manufacturer of flat and hollow wafer lines, but in the 1980s also was already a manufacturer of snack extrusion lines. Based on the former know-how and the input of additional expertise in food extrusion, Hebenstreit developed a series of complete state-of-the-art extrusion lines for the manufacturing of savory and sweet snacks as well as breakfast cereals.

Depending on the recipes and the sensory characteristics, the capacities of the lines can range from 200 to 800 kg/h of finished product. Of course, the company has a complete extrusion line with all respective downstream equipment installed at its facility in Radebeul near Dresden so that customers can test their developmental work.

 But that’s not all: The company also offers a team of experienced specialists who will provide eye-level support right from initial concept development, and will assist their customers with their technology and market know-how.

In addition to its worldwide proven technology for the production of flat and hollow wafers, Hebenstreit also offers complete mixing systems for various batter and cream formulations.

For more information, visit www.hebenstreit.de

9. Hosokawa-Bepex

Hosokawa Bepex’s highly flexible 3-phase cooking system, the CandyFlex, will be exhibited at Pack Expo in Las Vegas. The  unit is designed for continuously producing a broad range of different products, like caramels, hard candies and soft candies.

Due to the short cooking times and the unique mechanical approach of the Rotorcooker, even very clear, sensitive or light products containing milk or fruit juice can be produced. Due to the quick heat exchange and at the same time extremely high or low temperatures from cooking in vacuum, the CandyFlex is also suitable for broad range of sugar-free and normal products.

The continuous cooking process ensures a uniform product with even color. Also the caramelization level can be perfectly controlled while many process variables are separately controllable. 

The CandyFlex is available in hygienic design for easy cleaning and maximum demands. For product development, Hosokawa Bepex offers a lab version with a throughput of 60 kg/h while the standard model’s throughput can be 300 kg/h or more.

For more information, visit www.hosokawa-bepex.com or stop by booth S-8017

10. NID

NID has been in business for more than 60 years and in that time has become the world leader in starch moulding, selling moguls to companies in more than 60 countries.

Having always been at the forefront of starch mogul design and technology, NID once again intends to revolutionize the industry.

At Pack Expo NID will introduce the first in a range of five new small scale machines — an entry level, small batch and R&D machine, using a new iteration of NID’s extremely reliable and highly regarded proprietary pump design. Over the next 12-18 months NID will release a small footprint machine capable of a production level to match and even exceed that of full-size moguls.

These attractively priced machines will be of huge benefit to companies with smaller production volumes. The new machines are designed to maximize your operating efficiency with extremely low running costs.

As with all NID machines, ease of operation is at the forefront of the design. The machine makes operation a breeze, with all functions and variables controllable from our intuitive operator screen.

For more information, visit www.nid.com.au or stop by booth S-7406

11. Sollich

Sollich KG of Germany is a leading global supplier of enrobers, tempering systems, cooling tunnels, and bar forming equipment with a complete line of optional auxiliary equipment.

Sollich will have on display its Sollcoater SCT 820 wash-down enrober as well as the Thermo-Flow VA stainless steel cooling tunnel with a gull-wing cover design.

The Sollcoater is available in belt widths from 520 to 820 mm; it is a 1.35-meter long enrober that can be supplied with or without an integrated tempering unit. The SCT version is equipped with an integrated two-stage, turbo-tempering unit.

Moreover, for the first time, the unit features wash-down execution, so the machine can be cleaned in place. The chocolate tempering capacity is 300 kg/h with 150 kg/h of allowable chocolate consumption. The enrober is supplied with a mobile cleaning cart to simplify the process of cleaning the tempering screw.

Sollich will also exhibit the redesigned Thermo-Flow VA stainless steel cooling tunnel with its gull-wing cover design. The Thermo-Flow VA is engineered with a focus on hygiene and easy cleaning.

All stainless steel cooling tunnels come in wash-down execution for hot water cleaning.

For more information, visit www.sollich.com or stop by booth S-8006

12. Theegarten-Pactec

Theegarten-Pactec will present an extensive range of equipment for packaging small-sized confectionery items at Pack Expo. Being a leading supplier in its field, Theegarten-Pactec continuously puts a focus on new feeding, distribution solutions and packaging solutions. Most recently, the company developed the new wrapping machine HCW4/FPC5. This machine is a combination of the HCW4 for preliminary wrapping of preformed products in bottom-fold wrap and the FPC5 for overwrapping in flow packs.

The HCW4 features an intelligent grouping technology, which ensures that only complete product formations are transferred to the next wrapping machine.

The new solution is based on a device with three grouping units, each equipped with its own servo motor. The flexibility and capacity of the design serves as a buffer and absorbs any empty cycles.

The added value offered by the new machine generation is also evident in the operating speed the HCW4 achieves: though more compact, the machine’s maximum output has advanced to 1,500 products per minute.

For more information visit www.theegarten-pactec.com or stop by booth S-8111.

13. Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen

Chocolate moulding, gummy and candy depositing are our specialty. Visit our booth S-8111 to find out how our product ideas and technologies can suit your needs. Are you interested in how our cold stamping technology (FSC) can bring a difference to your product shape & quality! Do you want to learn how biscuits and chocolate form an incredible snack?

Limited space? Our innovative Confec Eco line with triple-shot and one-shot technologies can combine up to two tasty fillings in one praline!

With our mogul lines, all varieties of gummies can be produced! Pectin gellies, fondant, toffees can also be made starchless using our silicone-moulding line. Anything missing? Speak to our R&D team. We are looking forward to your visit.

For more information, visit www.w-u-d.com or stop by booth S-8111.