Chocolate producers in the East Midlands could soon have a new
piece of equipment to help them save time and money, thanks to
support from the Food and Drink iNet (Innovation Network).
Each morning, small chocolatiers have to wait around an hour for
the chocolate to reach the right conditions before they can start
work.
Now the Food and Drink iNet has brought together engineers and
academics to create a cost-effective solution to the problem, and
is calling on small chocolate companies in the East Midlands to
come forward if they'd like to be involved in the project.
"Small chocolatiers, working with relatively small chocolate
tempering equipment, find that they spend at least the first hour
of each day waiting for that day's chocolate to reach the correct
conditions for working," said Food and Drink iNet director Richard
Worrall. "This is related to melting and subsequently carefully
cooling the chocolate to keep it in perfect condition. For all
staff involved, this represents wasted production time of at least
one hour each per day. Multiplied up per week and then per year
means that a significant amount of time is wasted.
"Several companies have requested support in developing
equipment, ideally from a local source, that will enable them to
carry out the chocolate tempering process in such a way that the
chocolate is ready for production when they start work in the
morning."
The Food and Drink iNet is working with food scientists in the
School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences at Nottingham
Trent University and engineers at MCE Engineering Ltd in Derby on a
Collaborate to Innovate initiative to develop a bolt-on piece of
equipment that chocolatiers could use.
Mike Dixon, senior lecturer in food science at Nottingham Trent
University, said: "MCE Engineering Ltd has designed some equipment
and created a prototype, which has been successfully trialled at
one of the chocolatiers involved in the project. We're hoping that
this can be added to existing chocolate tempering equipment and
then lead to increased productivity, profitability, sustainability
and planned growth of these companies."
Any small or medium-sized chocolate companies in Derbyshire,
Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and
Rutland who are interested in taking part in the project should
contact the Food and Drink iNet via
info@foodanddrink-inet.org.uk
The Collaborate to Innovate initiatives seek to develop and
deliver projects to enable groups of small and medium-sized
enterprise businesses in the East Midlands food and drink supply
chain to work collaboratively amongst themselves and with other key
partners to overcome common problems by introducing innovation into
their companies and improving their economic and competitive
performance.
The Food and Drink iNet, which is funded by East Midlands
Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF), aims to encourage innovation in the region's food and
drink sector through new ways of working, new product development
and the introduction of new processes.
With advisors working across Derbyshire, Leicestershire,
Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland, it
links academic and private sector expertise and knowledge with
local food and drink business innovation needs.
The Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the
Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday,
Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the
University of Nottingham.