What bar manufacturers want: no cross-contamination, less product waste and more productivity
By: Peter Dreßler, head of sales for bar production at Bosch Packaging Technology
Bar production is changing in response to three major developments. The most significant one is the eating ‘on the go’ trend. As the pace of life accelerates, people try to juggle an increasing number of commitments related to work, family, and leisure time. Consequently, snacks—including bars—have an increasingly important role to play in this kind of lifestyle. Consumers keep them on hand throughout the day, and they sometimes replace actual meals. As such, consumers no longer simply desire traditional chocolate bars, but seek out healthy alternatives such as grain-based or sugar-free bars. The second development is the growing shift in consumption towards healthy bars and/or bars that are “free from” a certain ingredient. This has of course always been important for customers with nut or gluten allergies, but today’s wide range of “free from” products signals that this trend has gone mainstream. Increasingly, bars contain ‘healthy grains’ like chia seeds or are labelled gluten-free, which makes them easier to digest and offers a healthy alternative to wheat and rye. Bars are healthier and more popular than ever, with supermarket shelves boasting a large selection. But rising popularity and increased variety are not the only observable trends: Bars are now being produced in different sizes, too. Combined, these three developments create new challenges for bar production.