By Dr. Jörg Häseler, Chefredakteur Sweets Processing

Autumn is here and I'm overcome by the feeling that the grey is getting to me. When I look at the global situation, I feel uneasy and don't want to imagine what will happen next. But there are also the ‘beacons’ that make you realise that things are moving forward. For me, these shining examples on the technical side in recent weeks were the Packaging Symposium in Kempten, the Food Chemistry Days in Freising, numerous company visits in the south of Germany and Fachpack in Nuremberg. Two weeks of new impressions for me. I don't want to miss out on that and you will find content about these events in the magazine. I got to talk to many people during this time and was impressed by the new developments, which I wish the best of luck in establishing themselves. However, I have to pour a little water into the wine, as the logic surrounding bisphenol A is not clear to me. There are different assessments and the threat of production bans. Hopefully a solution will be found soon so that mould manufacturers and their users in the EU have legal certainty.

Once again on the ‘lighthouses’: The 24th Confectionery Congress will soon be taking place in Berlin. What has been organised here is very impressive: Sascha Lobo and Wolfgang Bosbach will be speaking and the topic of AI will be given space. I am also promoting the Guided Tours organised by Sweets Processing with Koelnmesse for ProSweets Cologne 2025. We are once again putting together a worthwhile programme that covers the entire value chain. I am therefore looking forward to talking to you at the other events.