Energy use has always been a cost of doing business in the confectionery industry. But today, not only just a line item on the balance sheet, but a performance metric, a sustainability benchmark, and increasingly, a regulatory concern. According to a 2023 report from the International Energy Agency, food manufacturing still accounts for nearly 30% of total industrial energy consumption worldwide. Within that, confectionery production—especially processes involving heating, cooling, and air compression—ranks among the most energy-intensive.
It’s no longer enough to just make candy that tastes good. Manufacturers are expected to do it efficiently, with less waste, tighter controls, and a lighter environmental footprint. That’s where companies like CHOCOTECH and Agriflex are stepping in—not just with new machinery, but with reimagined systems built from the ground up to conserve energy at every step.
CHOCOTECH, based in Wernigerode, Germany, has a portfolio that covers everything from jellies to hard candies to OTC chewables. But their real strength is in systems thinking: combining process automation, smart ingredient handling, and energy recovery into tightly integrated setups that run lean without cutting corners. Then there’s Agriflex, a specialist in bulk ingredient handling and dosing. While their systems often sit upstream from the main production line, the energy savings they generate ripple across the entire operation. Their approach is grounded in automation, precision, and eliminating inefficiencies in how raw materials are moved, measured, and prepared.
These aren’t headline-grabbing technologies, but they’re having a measurable impact. In a time when energy costs are volatile and sustainability targets are tightening, CHOCOTECH and Agriflex are showing that the real innovation might be in how we fine-tune the basics.
Simple systems, thoughtfully engineered
CHOCOTECH GmbH has been building confectionery systems for over 100 years. That kind of track record comes from learning, refining, and adapting. Since joining SOLLICH KG in 1992, the company has continued to expand, with its headquarters in Wernigerode, Germany and representation in markets around the world. Their specialty is broad: soft and hard candy masses, jellies, chewy candies, caramels, fondant, aerated and laminated candy, Halwa, and even over-the-counter candies. The company’s technical depth means they’re designing production systems that help manufacturers stay competitive.
When CHOCOTECH talks about innovation, it’s not about high-concept marketing. The goal is practical: make equipment that’s smart, efficient, and easy to use. “Keep it simple, but effective” is how they put it. Their systems cover the full production process, from raw ingredient handling to the final product. And while energy efficiency might be a relatively recent focus for some manufacturers, it’s been a part of CHOCOTECH’s development work for years.
Running a confectionery plant involves a lot of moving parts, and every one of them pulls power—electricity, steam, compressed air, water. The challenge isn’t just using less, but using it better. CHOCOTECH has focused on refining those systems so that energy is used where it matters, and waste is cut out. To them, it’s about building processes that are cleaner and more stable over the long term. For manufacturers, that means being able to maintain product quality while cutting back on unnecessary energy use.
Smart weighing and lower impact
One of CHOCOTECH’s standout developments is the ECOGRAV® system. It’s a gravimetric weighing unit designed for ingredients with high dry solids—up to 90%—and it includes a pressure dissolver that does something clever: it uses the moisture in glucose to dissolve sugar, reducing the need for added water. Depending on the recipe, this change can cut energy use by up to 70%. That’s a big number, and it comes from small decisions, designing a process that leans into the natural properties of the ingredients instead of fighting them.
CHOCOTECH’s systems use PLCs to monitor and control everything from mixing to cooking temperatures. This kind of automation isn’t just for consistency—it also allows for smarter energy use. Systems can respond in real-time to fluctuations, keeping things efficient even when the process changes. Weighing, flow rates, and temperature aren’t just technical specs—they’re levers for keeping production tight and avoiding unnecessary losses. The data helps manufacturers understand where they’re overusing resources and where things can be improved without compromising output.
Any industrial process that involves heating is going to produce excess heat. CHOCOTECH captures that heat and puts it back to work elsewhere in the system. This kind of recovery isn’t new in principle, but it’s often overlooked in practice. Paired with efficient motors, proper insulation, and CHOCOTECH’s own EDH technology, these upgrades help facilities reduce their energy profile without major overhauls. It’s a series of well-integrated decisions that make a difference across the board.
Partnership over push-button solutions
What CHOCOTECH offers goes beyond equipment. They spend time with manufacturers, figuring out what works and what doesn’t in existing setups. Their systems are clean-in-place (CIP) capable, which saves time and resources in daily operation, but the bigger picture is that they’re constantly thinking ahead. Training, system upgrades, and customised support are part of their standard approach. Instead of selling a machine and walking away, they stay involved—fine-tuning, troubleshooting, adapting.
Reducing energy use in confectionery production isn’t one change, but a series of choices that add up. The right equipment, thoughtful process design, good automation, smart use of heat and water. CHOCOTECH’s approach brings those pieces together in a way that’s practical for manufacturers facing cost pressures, sustainability targets, and increasing scrutiny. They say, this isn’t about chasing a trend, it’s about doing things better because better is also more sustainable. In this industry, that’s what staying competitive looks like.
Agriflex’s energy-efficient approach to ingredient handling
In modern confectionery production, where precision and efficiency are non-negotiable, ingredient handling systems often don’t get the spotlight—but they should. Agriflex AG, known for its engineering-focused approach to bulk material storage and dosing, is quietly leading the charge on energy-efficient automation that cuts costs and improves reliability across the board.
“Every part of our system is designed with eco-compatibility in mind,” says the team at Agriflex. And that’s not just a sustainability statement—it’s a technical strategy. The company’s machinery is built to reduce energy usage at the mechanical level, without compromising on performance. It starts with motors: all units are powered by high-efficiency engines, a step up from standard options in terms of energy class. But the bigger gain comes from how those motors are controlled.
By integrating inverters across the system, everywhere except on motors with minimal energy draw, Agriflex fine-tunes power usage to meet the exact demands of the process. That includes volumetric dosers, where flour and other ingredients are fed into pneumatic transport lines. Rather than a one-size-fits-all energy draw, the inverter ensures that the feed rate is calibrated in real-time, minimising overuse and keeping everything moving smoothly.
Automation plays a central role, especially when it comes to high-consumption areas. Motors with significant energy demands don’t start up blind, they’re managed with a no-load start protocol, reducing strain and lowering peak consumption. And if something’s not running efficiently, the system doesn’t just log the problem—it flags it. Built-in alerts for sub-optimal operating conditions give operators the chance to take corrective action before energy or raw materials are wasted.
Catching errors early
One often overlooked source of energy waste in production is error correction, specifically, the energy and materials used to create a product that doesn’t meet specs and has to be thrown out. Agriflex tackles this with layered control logic. Redundant systems monitor each progressive step of the process, not just at the endpoint. That means discrepancies are flagged mid-process, long before a batch becomes a write-off. The result is fewer wasted batches, less rework, and a more efficient line overall.
“Non-compliant products don’t just cost in raw materials,” they explain. “They waste energy too—and our systems are built to prevent that from the start.”
Reinventing dough cooling
One standout example of innovation at Agriflex is their patented dough cooling system, particularly relevant for yeast and sourdough applications in the confectionery and bakery sectors.
Cooling is often one of the most energy-intensive steps in a dough-based production line. The traditional approach involves chilling large storage tanks of dough or starter, maintaining them at low temperatures throughout the day. Agriflex took a different path. Instead of cooling a whole reservoir and keeping it cold, their system cools the raw material immediately before use. It’s a just-in-time approach that eliminates the need for prolonged storage and constant refrigeration.
Compared to common lamellar air jet systems, which are widely used by competitors, Agriflex’s fluid-based cooling method is significantly more energy-efficient. “We avoid the cooling of daily storage altogether,” the team says. “That alone makes a major difference in power consumption.” And because the material is cooled just before processing, there’s better control over dough temperature—an added benefit for quality consistency.
The long-term benefits of this approach go far beyond lower energy bills. By reducing energy and raw material waste, producers can scale more confidently and more sustainably. It’s not just about a greener footprint, although that’s increasingly important to retailers and consumers alike, but about creating a line that runs leaner, more predictably, and with fewer disruptions.
Agriflex’s systems are not flashy. They’re built to work quietly in the background, doing what good systems should: lowering risk, reducing waste, and keeping operations running at their best. As the company puts it, it’s about “optimising the entire production line” and doing it with technology that pays for itself in efficiency, batch after batch.
As energy becomes a defining factor in both sustainability and profitability, confectionery manufacturers are under pressure to do more with less. CHOCOTECH and Agriflex demonstrate that the answer lies not in radical reinvention, but in intelligent, well-integrated systems that optimise every stage of production. From precision dosing to waste heat recovery, their technologies show how thoughtful engineering can transform energy from a cost into a competitive advantage.
Editorial contact:
Editor: Kiran Grewal kgrewal@kennedys.co.uk
