Patrick Huffman, Blommer Chocolate Co., has been announced as the winner of the Hans Dresel Memorial Award.

Huffman was chosen by PMCA's Production Conference Program Committee, which will hand out the award on April 12 during the 70th Annual Production Conference dinner.

The award is a prestigious designation given to an individual in the confectionery industry who has demonstrated significant or long-term active contribution to the industry.

Huffman participates in many other industry association event and activities. He has also served on the PMCA information technology, long-range planning, production conference program and student outreach committees. He previously served as a board member and officer.

The recipient must also exhibit advanced knowledge of a topic within the industry and is expected to give a presentation on the current year's agenda.

Given his longtime experience in chocolate, Huffman is set to present the topic of "How to select the perfect chocolate" as an opening to the first conference-held, hands-on, chocolate workshop.

Winners of the award are generally recognized as inspirational within the industry. The award was named after Hans Dresel, a motivating force behind PMCA's first production conference held in 1947. He championed the idea to invite European food scientists and candy technologists to present technical papers. He was also responsible for creating the American Association of Candy Technologists, which now offers a yearly college scholarship, and proposed a course on candy technology at Drexel Institute in Philadelphia.

“Pat Huffman was my first boss and mentor in the confectionery industry; he taught me so much, but mostly how to give back to the industry and its organizations” says Judy Cooley, Production Conference Program Committee chair. "I know that I speak for all of PMCA and anyone who knows Pat when I say that this industry owes a debt of gratitude to Pat Huffman. He continues to be an inspirational leader, mentor and educator. Thanks so much for your significant contributions, Pat! You will always have a ‘sweet spot’ here at PMCA.”