News

Gelita symposium attracts almost 80 attendees

24 Nov 2017

Gelita reports that its latest International Food Symposium, “Off the beaten track, inspiration for better food, nutrition and health”, piqued the interest of almost 80 professionals.

Gelita reports that its latest International Food Symposium, “Off the beaten track, inspiration for better food, nutrition and health”, piqued the interest of professionals from a host of leading food and health and nutrition companies.

Nearly 80 delegates from 20 countries made their way to Heidelberg (Germany) to get together, listen to lectures and learn more about innovative product concepts. Thought leaders from a variety of disciplines shared with attendees their insights into consumer behaviour, their ideas for digitizing food and their deep knowledge of molecular developments in flavour perception and manipulation. Interactive sessions with concepts from GELITA turned the symposium into a real hands-on event.

On top of this, a panel discussion revealed a revolutionary approach called “Fast Forward Process” technology, which allows gelatine gummies to be produced without the use of starch. The avoidance of starch moulds is said to increase product hygiene and safety, while at the same time substantially speeding up production to enable a considerably shorter production process.

Dr. Matthew Lange of the Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, introduced the forward-looking target of better food digitizing. With the development of a platform called “Internet of food”, difficult to reach goals like better sustainability and personalized nutrition could be easier to achieve.

Tish van Dyke, Global Food and Beverage Sector Chair at Edelmann, demonstrated that building trust is the key to great marketing in her presentation: “Great marketing or smart trust building? – What exactly do consumers want from today’s food & beverage industry”.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Meyerhof, a leading expert in molecular genetics, shared his broad knowledge of the physiological reasons for food preferences with the audience. He explored the principles of taste receptors and taste modulators, and outlined how flavour preference can be learned and even manipulated.

Hans-Ulrich Frech, global Vice President for the Business Unit Collagen Peptides at Gelita, explained how collagen peptides help the body to help itself: for instance, VERISOL increases elasticity and reduces wrinkles and cellulite.

Rounding off the theoretical part of the program, Dr. Margarethe Plotkowiak, Head of Global Product Management Food at Gelita, explained how gelatine is obtained and presented it as a state-of-the-art ingredient with various capabilities in terms of technology and functionality.

A panel discussion then unveiled the outcome of a partnership between Gelita, Hänsel Processing and Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen (WDS), and described how the partners were able to develop a new technology called “Fast Forward Process”. This new, starch-free production method uses reusable silicone moulds instead of traditional starch trays. For fortified gummies in particular, this solution is said to open up new possibilities. The method is claimed to help to avoid dust and cross-contamination and reduce the duration of the production process for gelatine-based gummies from 24 hours to well under two hours. During the hands-on session that followed the panel discussion, delegates were able not only to taste gelatine gummies created using the Fast Forward Process, but were also able to see first-hand how the production process works on an on-site running mogul machine.

In further interactive sessions, the symposium provided opportunities to enjoy creative product and design concepts with collagen peptides and gelatine. Delegates were invited to produce different products themselves using Gelita ingredients and thus were able to see, taste and feel the various properties of gelatine and collagen peptides in different food applications. Exclusively for the symposium, the technical experts at Gelita had developed a broad range of product ideas.

The host surprised attendees with a variety of concepts. They tasted fancy Caribbean cocktail espumas that showcased gelatine’s foam formation and stabilisation properties, while the Jelly Fountain opened up new taste sensations. The delegates gummified salami, crackers or sweets under the jelly fountain, which demonstrated the gelling and adhesive properties of gelatine. Other samples illustrated how bioactive collagen peptides can be used to enrich products: within the “Beauty Bakery”, participants prepared microwave cupcakes and pancakes with VERISOL as well as high protein bars and soups with FORTIBONE and FORTIGEL.

Gelita notes that analysis of feedback questionnaires showed that 93% of participants had benefited from the event.

“The overwhelming quality and content of the speeches at this year’s symposium and the excellent environment for networking, conversation and forging good business contacts resulted in excited feedback from the attendees, which exceeded all of our expectations,” said Dr Franz Josef Konert, CEO of Gelita.