IPCO is a major supplier of chocolate forming/moulding equipment, with production systems for industrial ingredients – chips, chunks, drops and blocks – and decorative products such as shavings, rolls, pencils, plaquettes, blossoms and many more. The company used PackExpo 2024 to highlight its ability to supply cost effective solutions for everything from low cost, rapid deployment start-ups to high capacity multi-layer systems.

Details of its steel belt-based cooling systems for confectionery products and freezing lines used in the production of instant coffee were also featured.

The Rotoform drop depositor sits at the heart of all IPCO’s high-capacity systems. Rotoform, a rotary drop depositor, consists of a heated stator, which is supplied with liquid chocolate, and a perforated rotating shell that turns concentrically to deposit drops of chocolate onto a continuously running steel belt.

Chips are highly uniform in shape and size, and are free flowing for easy handling, storage and dosing. Chips of different sizes can be produced by simply changing the shell.

IPCO has developed a range of triple pass cooling systems that enable high throughput rates while minimizing floorspace requirements. The product is deposited on the first belt and adheres to the underside for the second pass. It is then removed on to a second conveyor for a third pass.

The company can also supply an innovative piston depositor for producing wide and/or thick circular wafer products. This can be installed alongside Rotoform and extrusion equipment on IPCO CCM (Chip and Chunk Moulding) triple pass steel belt coolers, enabling three depositing systems to be integrated on a single line.

IPCO has been supplying steel belts for use in confectionery and chocolate processing for almost 100 years, in applications ranging from simple conveying to continuous processes such as cooling/solidification, conditioning, drop-forming and casting.

Products processed this way include caramel, chocolate, hard melt candy, nougat, nut brittle and more. In each case, the product is applied to the belt as a melt, either through casting or drop depositing, and solidified as it passes through a cooling tunnel.

The production of coffee is another major application for IPCO’s systems, with its freezing lines now being used by all of the world’s major producers. After roasting, the coffee is milled and turned into a slurry. This is fed onto the steel belt and frozen using cold air blasted over the product at high velocity.

The combination of impingement technology and the excellent conductivity of the steel belt reduces freezing times by as much as 50% compared with conventional methods), while also maintaining the color and flavor of the coffee.