GELITA Symposium 2017 Heidelberg, Germany
GELITA Symposium paves a creative pathway to the future of food
Eberbach, November 2017 – GELITA’s 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 & Nutrition companies. Nearly 80 delegates from 20 countries made their way to Heidelberg (Germany) to get together, listen to inspiring lectures and learn more about innovative product concepts. Internationally renowned thought leaders from a variety of disciplines shared with attendees their exciting insights into consumer behavior, their ideas for digitizing food and their deep knowledge of molecular developments in flavor perception and manipulation. Interactive sessions with exceptional 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 (FFP)” technology, which allows gelatine gummies to be produced without the use of starch. The avoidance of starch molds increases product hygiene and safety, while at the same time substantially speeding up production to enable a considerably shorter production process.
What exactly do consumers expect from today’s food and beverage industry? What role might the prospective “Internet of food” tool play for consumers as well as for the food industry? Why does flavor matter? How can cross-functional and cross-business development enrich the world of established food categories?
These and many other questions were asked, passionately discussed and answered by international experts during their keynote presentations. 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 & Beverage Sector Chair at Edelmann, demonstrated that building trust is the key to great marketing in her conclusive 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 attentive audience. He explored the principles of taste receptors and taste modulators, and outlined how flavor 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 (FFP)”. This new, starch-free production method uses reusable silicone molds instead of traditional starch trays. For fortified gummies in particular, this novel solution opens up new possibilities. The method helps to avoid dust and cross-contamination and reduces the duration of the production process for gelatine-based gummies from 24 hours to well under 2 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 astonished with ample 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 the attendees with a variety of concepts: They tasted fancy Caribbean cocktail espumas that showcased gelatine’s foam formation and stabilization properties. 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®.
The participants were really enthusiastic: Analysis of feedback questionnaires showed that 93 percent of participants had benefited from the event. Besides the provision of new information and ideas, the attendees stated that they found the Symposium inspiring and had particularly benefitted from the opportunity to establish new contacts. “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,” concluded Dr Franz Josef Konert, CEO of GELITA AG.
