Exclusive: Cologne’s Choco Tec places sector’s future in the spotlight
Hundreds of executives from across the confectionery sector have been gathering in Cologne Germany this week to discuss major topics from cocoa prices and the challenges of farmers, to the impact of AI upon the wider industry, writes Neill Barston.
According to ZDS, the German Central College of Confectionery, which is the organising group behind the event, which concludes today (Thursday 12 December), there has been a record number of attendees standing at more than 360 people, at Koelnmesse Congress North event venue.
Confectionery Production has been on hand to cover the bi-annual event (see our further coverage online and extended feature in our next edition of the magazine), which has attracted visitors from around the world.
The event has included a series of presentations that have covered the major challenges facing the sector – including addressing rising cocoa prices, addressing the core tests facing farmers on the frontline of the industry in West Africa, and how digitalisation is rapidly influencing developments across the confectionery, and wider food and drink market.
Among the core topics to be raised on the opening day was a presentation from Euromonitor, which address some of the most notable developments, including cocoa prices, which the organisation asserted would likely see sustained higher values in the coming years that is likely to continue to impact the industry.
Linked to this, David Deblauwe, of Puratos (pictured below) spoke of seeing the plight of children in West Africa for himself proved a pivotal moment in making it extremely clear that ‘the future of the cocoa industry depends on supporting those children,’ if the sector is to survive as we know it in the long-term.
The opening day also heard a renewed presentation from Hauke Will, of Ritter Sport, who offered insights into cocoa production for the company at its South American plantation in Nicaragua.
As he noted, its site El Cacao has been at the forefront of its policies surrounding sustainability, which has been re-emphasised by the site devoting half of the location as a nature reserve to promote biodiversity.
He also expressed the company’s proactive approach to engaging its employees and creating a series of inclusive policies designed to foster the development of its staff, who are living amid comparatively challenging conditions in the South American nation.
Another important topic was put under the microscope by Dr Torben Erbrath (above) of the BDSI, who went into detail about what the precise compliance requirements are likely to be surrounding the upcoming environmental legislation that is designed to foster full transparency within supply chains. The much anticipated legislation is now set to face a 12 month-delay in its implementation – which had been due at the end of this month, but the EU Commission’s proposals to allow greater time to companies and nations to prepare their respective monitoring teams, appears to have gained a weight of approval, much to the concern of environmental campaigners.
Chocolate museum highlight
The first day concluded with its traditional party evening held at Cologne’s chocolate museum, which paved the way for a host of topics throughout its second day that spanned everything from exploring ‘alt choc’ cocoa production with the likes of Planet A and NukoKo, through to addressing the potential for the vegan chocolate market, and how AI is already being implemented to improve equipment and systems management within the industry.
Speaking on the opening two days of the event, John Newell, a cocoa specialist from Nestle, who also delivered a keynote presentation at last year’s World Confectionery Conference, believed there had been plenty to celebrate from this year’s event.
He said: “I think that it’s gone really well, for each event we try and make it a little better and it’s been a good meeting, with lots of interesting presentations, and a great opportunity to connect with people who I wouldn’t sometimes have chance to do otherwise, which makes it really rewarding.
“I think it’s now the number one event for cocoa and chocolate in Europe, and I was glad to present at the last event. I think I shall probably do a presentation at the next one, but I’ll have to come up with a new one for that.
“The biggest challenge we have right now by far is over cocoa prices, which has taken up quite a lot of my time this year, and I think that will continue. I can’t see those prices coming down to what they were last year, they’re likely to be around $5-6 thousand a tonne mark,” added Newell, who explained that while such issues remained a headache for manufacturers, the demand for chocolate in particular, had shown continued positivity on global markets. See further coverage online and our exclusive video review to come.
