ProSweets Cologne 2025: Syntegon harnesses automation for circular confectionery pack production

Packaging companies must balance automation, sustainability, and address end customers’ loss in buying power to stay ahead of the competition, according to Jan Gruhn, Syntegon’s regional sales manager for Germany. At ProSweets Cologne 2025, Gruhn discusses how Syntegon’s SVX Series vertical packaging machine helps the company meet the industry’s dynamics. 

“We are presenting our technology for the confectionery industry. As a supplier, we are showing our vertical packaging machine, part of our SVX Series. It is raising the bar for high-output confectionery packaging performance,” Gruhn tells Packaging Insights. 

“At Syntegon, a strategic partner for processing and packaging solutions, we are not only concentrating on the primary packaging but also on the whole line. We are providing our technology to package a wide range of products in shelf-ready presentations which contain primary packaging, whether vertical or horizontal”. 

He explains that the machine can be used for candy, chocolates, cookies, and crackers, including for “transport-ready cases” and “shelf-ready presentation.”

Confectionery packaging trends

Gruhn tells us more about the three major trends (automation, sustainability, and buying power) in the confectionery packaging space and how Syntegon aims to address these.

Syntegon packages a wide range of products in shelf-ready presentations .“Automation refers to the required labor costs, which are quite high in several countries. So we are providing technology to make it easy for our customers to overcome these shortages and liberate their production resources by implementing more automated solutions,” he explains.

“Regarding sustainability, the new EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is raising a lot of attention among customers who are evaluating their existing solutions, and whether or not they are still future proof, or if they have to react in some way.” 

Gruhn says that Syntegon, as a machine supplier and partner, is assisting in making existing machines “more future-proof” and able to integrate “sustainable packaging materials, such as paper-based” to make the production process more circular.

“Regarding the loss of buying power, we need to have smaller packages to keep our higher outputs. This means that we have to raise the output per minute. This is also a target that we can achieve, not only thanks to our vertical machine SVX but also with the high-speed flow wrapping machines that we are providing.” 

Gruhn says that Syntegon stands out from competitors on the market by providing “a whole portfolio of technologies that can be connected to a seamless line.”

“With regard to seamlessness, we are not only focusing on the technical part and the connection of different applications, but we are also taking into consideration environmental influences, such as what market our customer is in, what are their specific challenges, and what we can provide,” he continues. 

“Whether it is data interface with data analysis to improve efficiency, or we have specific sustainability targets where we have to assist in a specific way. We are trying to integrate all these different aspects as a partner and create the most suitable solution in a seamless line.”

Calculating carbon

Gruhn tells us that Syntegon addresses environmental sustainability throughout its value chain “from the raw material to the final machine so that we can improve our energy consumption and our plants.”

“We are also helping our customers to define their carbon footprint through carbon footprint calculations for our machines, which makes it easy for the customer to evaluate the total impact the machine is having,” he explains.Syntegon eliminated specific materials while keeping barriers and product protection on the same level as common materials, according to Gruhn.

“In addition, we are also improving energy consumption and material usage in our machines. For example, our colleagues from the Syntegon company Makat Candy Technology have improved on the recycling of heat used in their jelly processing.”

Gruhn says that Syntegon’s vertical packaging machines need “less energy for higher outputs” than those offered by competitors, while integrating “more economic materials, which is “thinner or more recyclable.”

“For every challenge, we also see an opportunity. We have eliminated specific packaging materials while keeping barriers and product protection on the same level as common materials.” 

“To achieve this, we had a long period of testing in cooperation with several partners where we were able to find solutions and overcome these challenges so that we can realize a more sustainable production without losses in efficiency or output,” Gruhn highlights.

At ProSweets Cologne we spoke to Sacmi about current confectionery packaging trends. We also interviewed Esbe Plastic’s deputy sales manager Adrian King to hear how the company enhances the recyclability of its thermoform plastic trays.