Baker Perkins launches manufacturing technology for functional and medicated confectionery

15 Sep 2017 --- Baker Perkins, a company that supplies process equipment to the confectionery industry, is launching new manufacturing technology for the functional and medicated confectionery sector in the form of the ServoForm Mini. The ServoForm Mini is a small batch/lab-scale depositor developed in response to rapid expansion of the market for supplements and OTC medication, which is being driven by consumers looking for easier and more palatable delivery methods than pills or capsules, according to Baker Perkins. These include new gummy formats for vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) as well as established hard candy applications such as remedies for coughs, colds and sore throats.

“Traditional small batch confectionery plants are not suitable for functional and medicated products: ingredient proportions are inaccurate, product quality is inconsistent, and hygiene is poor,” Keith Graham, Marketing Manager, Baker Perkins Ltd., tells NutritionInsight. “The ServoForm Mini brings the benefits of automated starchless depositing to small batch production, with repeatable accuracy of ingredient metering in a clinical environment.”

“These products are high value so they must look and taste good to attract consumers: starchless depositing achieves these objectives,” Graham continues. “It also offers vitamin and mineral supplements in a palatable and psychologically acceptable format – consumers looking to stay healthy do not wish to be associated with the ‘medication’ image of pills and tablets.”

Viable for functional and medical markets
The ServoForm Mini deposits candy syrup or fruit paste into solid molds at rates of up to 54kg per hour and has the flexibility to produce gummies, jellies, hard candy and lollipops with the same machine, Baker Perkins reports. Applications include small to medium batch manufacture, new product development and production of marketing samples.

Many gummy products are made using a starch molding process that is incompatible with cGMP and incapable of validation, according to Baker Perkins. The ServoForm Mini uses a starchless process with hygienic characteristics – solid molds, non-contact ejection system, fully automatic wash-through function and no recycling of starch – that “make this the only viable process for the healthcare confectionery sector.”

“This technology enables the functional and medicated sector to capitalize on a wide variety of potential markets,” Graham adds. “Small batch levels of production are ideal because individual consumption is necessarily low – unlike with confectionery. Niche marketing can be used to develop a range of products tailored to specific lifestyles and needs. The increasing popularity of fiber, omega 3 and energy boosters such as caffeine, for example, offer great opportunities for creative product development and marketing.”

Medicated products include ingredients such as antiseptics, menthol and eucalyptus oil. The use of hard candy for medicated products including cough sweets and throat pastilles is well established and the smooth mouthfeel and slow, continuous release of the active ingredient from hard candy maximizes the therapeutic benefit, Baker Perkins notes.

“We anticipate that companies entering the functional and medicated confectionery market at a low output will need to expand as demand increases,” Graham says of the company’s future plans for the technology. “Starchless depositing technology is scalable and customers can move up their production levels to plants between 200 and 2,000kg per hour without changing process. Currently, moving from low- to high-level production can mean a change of process, which inevitably changes the nature of the product.”

By Paul Creasy