Confectionery with a healthy image
Date: 30 May 2007
Baker Perkins has developed an innovative process to enable confectioners to maximise value from the growth market for candies with a healthy image.
The SFX Depositing System produces the full range of sugar-free hard candies; functional/medicated confectionery; and a unique range of sugar free/Xylitol combinations.
All will appeal to companies seeking to reach new, self-aware consumers in the higher-value ‘good for you’ confectionery sector.
The process unites two established Baker Perkins depositing capabilities: sugar free hard candy and crystallised Xylitol, a long-established tooth-friendly sugar substitute.
Sugar free candy with natural flavours and colours addresses consumer concerns about confectionery, and has established a significant market share in many parts of the world.
It offers guilt-free snacking in a diet-aware environment, for both adults and children.
To add extra value, functional ingredients such as vitamins or breath/mouth fresheners may be added to sugar free candy and the process may be validated for the production of medicated confectionery such as nasal decongestants or throat sweets. Adding a Xylitol component creates a more sophisticated product appealing to adult consumers and commanding a higher price.
It goes a stage beyond sugar-free candy by adding a positive dental health benefit. Hard candy/Xylitol combinations consist of two separate deposited components, one of them crystallised Xylitol and the other a sugar-free syrup based on Isomalt or Maltitol combinations.
These components are deposited in various combinations including layered and side by side.
The properties of crystallised Xylitol are a clear-cut cooling sensation that can augment breath/mouth freshening applications.
This is coupled to a distinctive mouth feel: combined with a conventional sugar-free component, the result is a product that has contrasting taste and texture sensations.
Xylitol offers well-proven health benefits. These include a reduction in tooth decay with long-lasting protection against caries, and suitability for diabetics because of a low glycemic index.
For diet-oriented consumers, Xylitol has 40% less calories than other carbohydrates
Marketeers will welcome the possibility of positioning a product that tastes great and does you good.
There is also virtually limitless scope for colour and flavour combinations to maximise the natural sensation.
These products have already achieved high-volume market penetration in Japan, with substantial demand in other parts of Asia
Baker Perkins has developed the new ServoForm SFX depositing solution as a complete production system, specifically for healthy confectionery.
It includes two cooking elements – a well-proven Turbofilm plate pack model for conventional hard candy, plus a unique crystallisation process for Xylitol. The unique solution for Xylitol depositing is the Baker Perkins Gemini twin-headed depositor.
Already in commercial operation, these depositors can be configured to produce clearly defined layers of Xylitol and sugar-free candy.
![[logo] Fivesite.co.uk](/gfx/gfx_logo_fivesite.gif){kind=logo}
