The global chocolate and confectionery machinery market will grow 7.1 percent over the next five years, reaching nearly $4 billion in 2021, says a new report about food processing equipment by The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based research firm.

Several of my BNP Media colleagues and I attended PACK EXPO, staged by PMMI at the Las Vegas Convention Center last week. More than 2,000 exhibitors displayed their processing and packaging capabilities and equipment for thousands of attendees from across the globe — attendees who undoubtedly hit the Strip to blow off steam after long days at the show.

Pam Gesford's endeavors have earned her the 2017 Stroud Jordan Award, presented each year at the American Association of Candy Technologists’ (AACT) National Technical Seminar to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the confectionery technology field, particularly through education, organization and research.

Swiss chocolate production equipment manufacturer Bühler Group has acquired the Haas Group, a century-old Austrian manufacturer of wafer, biscuit and confectionery production systems.