Showing a wide diversity of themes and new technologies, ProSweets Cologne 2019, the international supplier fair for the sweets and snacks industries, was on the pulse of time. With over 21,000 visitors, the trade fair, which recently took place in Cologne, set a new record.

As the international supplier fair and international platform for the sweets and snacks industries, this year’s ProSweets Cologne convinced across the board. More than 21,000 trade visitors (+ 5 % compared to 2018) from over 100 countries were counted – about 70 % of them came from abroad. Overall, 343 providers (+ 5 % compared to 2018) from 34 countries – 227 from abroad – presented new solutions and further developments for recipes, production and packing of sweets and snacks.

Again, the trade fair’s biggest section was the “Machines and Equipment” segment. An impressive array of new products and solutions also made a convincing impact in the segments “Packaging machinery”, “Raw materials and ingredients”, as well as secondary sections such as “Analytics and Food Safety”.

Product areas such as smart and flexible machines that can be adapted to changed recipes and demands as a result of their fast set-up options and which enable automated cleaning and maintenance also played an important role. Individualised shapes and packaging are of great significance within the sweets and snacks industry, and this was also reflected at ProSweets Cologne. The visitors could inform themselves about the 3D recording of forms, the latest hot sealing technologies, bio-degradable packing materials as well as new methods for the processing of sensitive raw materials.

The topics reformulation and packing were the focus of the special events and lecture programme. The special event “Ingredients” presented current trends and solutions involving the reduction of fat, sugar and salt, and vegetarian or vegan diets were addressed and thematised in presentations and at the exhibitions stands.

The special event “Packaging” aroused high interest, too. Experts lectured on topics such as virtual supermarkets, safe networked systems or new sustainable packing concepts.

The visitors were able to examine innovative packing solutions in the scope of the New Product Showcase of ISM trade fair. At this special event, the winner of this year’s ISM Packaging Award powered by ProSweets Cologne was Chocal Aluminiumverpackungen GmbH from Germany for their sustainable, environmentally friendly paper packaging, which is made of pure paper and thus biodegradable. In formed, printable paper trays, chocolate figures, bars or lollipops can be securely packaged.

The next ProSweets Cologne is scheduled to take place from 2 to 5 February 2020. The 50th edition of ISM, the world’s largest trade fair for sweets and snacks, will be staged in parallel.