Innovative candy mould design
Date: 24 August 2005
Rapid development of a complex product
Baker Perkins used innovative mould design technology to accelerate development of a new chocolate covered cherry product for a leading US candy manufacturer.
Queen Anne Candy is a division of Oregon based Gray and Company, the world's largest producer of Maraschino cherries, glacé fruit and chocolate cordial cherries. Queen Anne operates a Baker Perkins depositing plant at its Hart, Michigan facility and asked the company's USA sales team at Grand Rapids, Michigan to develop moulds for a seasonal product for a leading supermarket chain.
This product - Cordial Cherry Eggs - has a complex, non-symmetrical egg shape that demands a particularly deep mould. Operating on a tight time scale, Baker Perkins engineers at Peterborough in the UK used a combination of mould design on a 3D CAD system and 3D rapid prototyping to make a single cavity test mould, which was couriered to the Hart factory for evaluation by Queen Anne staff.
Apart from one minor adjustment, the new mould was 'right first time' and the production moulds were quickly manufactured and shipped across the Atlantic.
Production of Cordial Cherry Eggs involves initial depositing of a fondant crème into the rubber moulds. Cherry droppers then place a Maraschino cherry into each mould, and a second deposit of crème fills the mould and covers the cherry. After cooling, the products are enrobed in chocolate, foil wrapped and packaged in trays.
Nicole Schubert, Product Developer for Queen Anne Candy, says, "Although the production of this item was difficult initially, it ultimately resulted in a very attractive finished product."
Baker Perkins developed its fast-track mould design and production service to meet a growing demand from confectionery makers to bring new deposited products to market faster and more economically.
Using the combination of 3D CAD design and 3D rapid prototyping to make a test mould, production trials on a new product can take place within three weeks of an initial idea.
Full colour 3D confectionery designs created on the latest CAD software are transmitted electronically throughout the world for customer appraisal and approval. Rapid prototyping was proven by Baker Perkins in other sectors of the food industry, and enables a CAD-drawn design to be formed to the exact size and shape proposed.
A test batch of product can then be produced speedily for assessment by research, development and marketing teams.
The Baker Perkins depositing line at Queen Anne utilises flexible rubber moulds, with ejection by deformation of the mould: rubber formulas have been developed by Baker Perkins to ensure the best release and wear characteristics.
This is one of three distinct types of mould - the quality and character of product and efficiency of the system depend on the correct choice of mould.
With over 500 plants at work around the world, and a growing range of machines based on the new ServoForm platform, Baker Perkins is the acknowledged world leader in confectionery and lollipop depositing. A total mould service package - from new design to refurbishment - has been developed to support those plants.
![[logo] Fivesite.co.uk](/gfx/gfx_logo_fivesite.gif){kind=logo}
