Candy moulds - a total service
Date: 02 August 2004
A total mould service package - from new design to refurbishment - has been developed by Baker Perkins to support its 400 depositing plants at work throughout the world.
Moulds are at the heart of all successful depositing lines: the quality and character of product, and efficiency of the system, depend on the correct choice of mould. Baker Perkins has a design library stretching back over 40 years to stimulate the ideas that can create a genuinely unique confection for a new or existing plant.
A new service from Baker Perkins meets a growing demand from confectionery makers to bring new, deposited products to market faster and more economically.
Using a combination of mould design on a 3D CAD system, and 3D rapid prototyping to make a single cavity test mould, trials on a new product within the Baker Perkins Innovation Centre can take place within three weeks of an initial idea.
Full colour 3D confectionery designs created on the latest CAD software can be transmitted electronically throughout the world for appraisal and approval by the customer. Rapid prototyping, proven by APV Baker in other sectors of the food industry, enables a design drawn on a CAD system to be formed to the exact size and shape proposed.
A test batch of product can then be produced quickly for assessment by research, development and marketing teams. Once the design is approved, construction of the production moulds can be fast-tracked.
There are three distinct types of mould. For hard candy, butterscotch and milk candies, aluminium moulds feature product ejection by a pin mechanism. Special FDA approved coatings have been developed for clean release and long wear, and existing moulds can be re-coated to extend life.
For hard toffees, hard creams and chews, flexible rubber moulds with ejection by deformation of the mould are preferred. The product has to be firm enough to eject cleanly; softer products will suffer damage. Rubber formulas have been developed by Baker Perkins to ensure the best release and wear characteristics.
Soft toffees and creams, plus jellies and truffles, need rigid moulds, with ejection via a patented compressed air technique. With air de-moulding, many confectioners chose to introduce a variety of shapes across the mould for assortments.
