With Halloween and the festive season in full swing, confectionery companies are ramping up production of their most delectable treats. Making these sweet morsels of goodness is a delicate and precise process for which the BFM® fitting system is perfectly designed - as confectionery titans like Nestle, Mondelez, Lindt and Hershey have already discovered.
Bulk powder processing is a crucial aspect of confectionery production, which involves handling a wide range of ingredients like cocoa, sugar, and flavourings. Confectionery companies face various powder processing challenges, which can often be resolved by employing superior flexible connectors as we will explore in this article.
Ingredient Uniformity
One of the confectionery industry’s primary challenges in powder processing is achieving consistent ingredient uniformity. To create confections with the perfect taste and texture, manufacturers must ensure that ingredients like cocoa, sugar, and milk powder are evenly distributed. Inconsistencies in the blend can result in variations in taste and texture, which can be a major issue in the highly competitive confectionery market.
Manufacturers often employ various techniques, such as mixing and sifting, to achieve ingredient uniformity. Advanced mixing equipment ensures that the ingredients are thoroughly blended, while sieves and screens help remove any clumps or impurities.
Ensuring a seamless transition and consistent powder flow between these pieces of equipment is also necessary to make sure the product maintains this uniformity as it moves onto its next process step.
Moisture Control
Moisture content plays a crucial role in confectionery production. Even slight variations in moisture levels can lead to problems like caking, crystallization, and product spoilage. Maintaining the right moisture content is especially important when processing ingredients like cocoa powder and powdered sugar, which are highly hygroscopic and tend to absorb moisture from the surrounding environment.
To address moisture control challenges, confectionery manufacturers often invest in climate-controlled environments and may also use drying or dehumidification processes to reduce moisture levels in ingredients and maintain product quality.
The seal of the entire process line to ensure no moisture ingress is important at these powdered stages, so the flexible connectors linking the mixers, sifters and driers need to have a 100% seal that can be always relied upon.
Particle Size Distribution
Controlling the particle size distribution of powders is vital in confectionery production. Different products require specific particle sizes to achieve the desired texture and mouthfeel. For instance, cocoa powder for a smooth chocolate bar should have a different particle size distribution than powdered sugar for a light, fluffy frosting.
Manufacturers use techniques like grinding and milling to achieve the desired particle size distribution for their ingredients. This allows them to fine-tune the texture and quality of their confections.
The finer the powder, the more difficult it is to contain, and the coarser it is, the harsher it is on the equipment as it passes through, particularly at the flexible connections between machinery. Many flexible connectors are made of material that will wear easily, and if they are clamped, they often fail to contain fine powders, particularly if there is any positive pressure in the production line. This leads us to what is probably one of the most challenging elements of any powder processing operation – dust.
Dust Control
Powder processing inevitably leads to the generation of dust, which can pose several challenges. Dust can not only contaminate the production environment and affect product quality, but it also more importantly is a serious explosion risk.
To address dust management challenges, confectionery manufacturers implement dust control measures, such as installing dust collection systems and regular cleaning of the factory environment. Whilst these practices are all important, the priority for all powder processing must be the prevention of dust leakage in the first place.
With so many powders involved in confectionery manufacturing, all transitions between pieces of equipment should be 100% dust-tight. This can be challenging particularly between equipment like sifters and grinders where the constant movement of the machinery can cause significant wear on flexible connections and their fastening systems.
Flavour and Aroma Preservation
Preserving the delicate flavours and aromas of confectionery products can be difficult when dealing with powdered ingredients. Ingredients like flavourings and natural extracts are sensitive to environmental factors, such as temperature and humidity. Maintaining the integrity of these ingredients throughout the powder processing stage is critical to ensure the final product's quality.
Manufacturers often store flavourings and aromatics in controlled environments and add them to the mixture at the last stage of production to minimize exposure to environmental conditions. If the same process line is used for multiple products, the equipment also needs to be easy to clean between product runs, including the flexible connectors which ideally could be used in CIP (clean in place) cycles.
Making the Connection in Confectionery
Confectionery manufacturers must invest in advanced equipment, rigorous quality control, and meticulous process design to ensure that the powder processing stage doesn’t compromise the integrity of their products. An extremely important part of that design should be the flexible connections that transport their delicate products between their production line equipment.
Old-style clamped connector systems rarely offer a seal that can withstand movement or eliminate moisture ingress, and product build-up in external crevices is a hygiene risk. Durability and ease of cleaning is also an important consideration, with the prevention of dust leakage the number one priority in any plant handling bulk powders.
The 100% seal of the BFM® blue-band flexible connector and spigot adaptor system has become the food industry’s preferred option, with impressive results in hygiene, safety and long-term performance.
Confectionery companies have quickly discovered that BFM® connectors are unrivalled in their ability to maintain ingredient uniformity, control moisture, manage particle size distribution, prevent dust leakage, and preserve flavours and aromas.
By addressing these challenges, the confectionery industry can continue to delight consumers with a wide range of sweet and delightful creations.
