Last night, at the American Association of Candy Technologists’ (AACT) Technical Seminar held in Lincolnshire, Ill., Terry Richardson of Richardson Researches, Inc., was presented with the Stroud Jordan award, the association’s highest honor.

 

Robert Boutin, principal and president of Knechtel Laboratories and last year’s Stroud Jordan recipient, presented Richardson with a framed certificate and medallion featuring the image of Stroud Jordan, a renowned confectionery scientist and co-founder of the AACT.

 

Each year since 1951, the AACT presents the award to someone in the industry who’s contributed significantly in the area of education, organization or research. Richardson, who upon receiving the medallion from Boutin joked that he always wondered what Jordan looked like, thanked mentors and colleagues he’s worked with for the honor.

 

Having spent 57 years in the industry, Richardson went on to tell those in the audience of several miscues in his career that helped him become a better confectioner. As he pointed out, those lessons stayed with him, noting, “A little fear [of failure] helps keep the creative juices going.”

 

A graduate of the London Borough Polytechnic in Confectionery and Chocolate Technology and of the College of South West Essex in Business Management, Richardson held technical and production positions for several U.K and North American companies, eventually joining Knechtel Laboratories in the early 1960s. He then went on to establish his own consultancy business and continues to hold several patents for new products and processes.

 

A Candy Hall of Fame inductee, Richardson is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (UK) and a member of AACT and the Institute of Food Technologists. He has also published dozens of papers and has made several presentations to both the PMCA and AACT. Richardson Researches, Inc. specializes in chocolate and confectionery technology. The company also offers classes, in chocolate, confectionery and gourmet continental chocolate.

 

For more information, visit www.riches.com and www.aactcandy.org.