Where there's automation, there are belts: Ammega

Candy Industry Senior Editor Liz Parker Kuhn recently touched base with Giuseppe Allais, global food industry manager at Ammega, an Ammeraal Beltech company, about automation in the confectionery industry.

Liz Parker Kuhn: What are some typical automation needs for the confectionery industry?

Giuseppe Allais: [The] confectionery industry requires different equipment for different stages of the manufacturing and packaging process. In order to improve efficiency and minimize downtime while maintaining food safety standards, typical automation needs in the confectionery industry include conveyor belts for transporting products, cooling tunnels for temperature control, sorting systems, and specialized equipment for handling delicate or sticky items such as extruders (for candy), enrobers (for chocolate cookies), horizontal flow packs, and pick & place robots (for primary and secondary packaging, respectively).

LPK: What are the common challenges for these needs, such as hygiene and food safety?

GA: A common challenge for automation in the confectionery industry includes maintaining strict hygiene and food safety standards due to the nature of the products. Conveyors and other equipment must be easy to clean to avoid cross-contamination from belt to belt or product to product, especially since many confectionery items are sticky or sensitive to temperature. Moreover, belts must be durable to withstand frequent sanitation of surfaces, without absorbing any cleaning solutions which can become contaminants.

Managing the delicate handling of products without damaging them, preventing product sticking, and ensuring compliance with food-grade safety regulations (like FDA and EU standards) are also critical challenges that must be addressed during production.

LPK: How does Ammeraal Beltech work to keep up with current producer needs?

GA: Ammega Group’s Ammeraal Beltech supports its confectionery clients with a range of conveyor belting solutions with food grade high-quality, premium products for each stage of the production process and packaging. Thanks to our long-standing industry experience and extended application knowledge, we are able to design innovative and customizable belts to address our customers’ needs.

LPK: How does its non-stick belts handle candies gently and hygienically?

GA: Ammeraal Beltech has many different products dedicated to servicing the confectionery industry, such as:

DuraClean – a unique synthetic belt with Teflon spots and fine matt finish for superior release properties for energy bars and candy. Our unique cover yields a very low surface energy measure which means excellent product release properties, less product waste, and more efficient line uptime, meaning less time cleaning belts.
Soliflex Pro – a state-of-the-art, hygienic, homogenous belt. This system reduces the energy required to run conveyors and at the same time delivers ultimate tracking; thus virtually maintenance-free.
Premium Plus+ Belt Range – a synthetic belt range able to run up to only 2.5 fixed knife-edge, for the smallest transfer point of micro chocolates and candies with anti-microbial and non-fray characteristics.

LPK: How does the company comply with all relevant Food Grand standards?

GA: Our products comply with all relevant food grade standards, both in the U.S. (FDA) and Europe. Not only are our belts made with food-safe, and non-stick materials, but they also feature easy-to-clean surfaces, which help prevent contamination. With excellent product release properties, and by being scraper-friendly, our conveyor belts also help manufacturers track towards their sustainability goals, by using less water and detergent for cleaning.

LPK: Do you have any recent or upcoming equipment launches to share or anything upcoming in 2025?

GA: The Soliflex XMD belt range is a particularly important line of belts that helps detect broken belt fragments with a proven sensitivity control level. The belts work with metal detectors and X-ray machines. These X-ray and metal detectable homogeneous belts are perfect for improved food safety and foreign body prevention and we intend to expand on this product line in the future.