From chocolate to biscuits, muesli or yogurts, many food products today including confectionery are refined with nuts, fruits or berries, adding greater diversity for the trade and retail sectors. The machinery from Swiss company Brunner-Anliker ensures the delicate processing of such natural additives and provides options for more efficient manufacturing processes.

By Sabine Flachsmann

It all began with the manufacture of mechanical graters for cheese dairies”, explains Nancy Kraus, Sales Manager Industry, during an ­interview at the Brunner-Anliker AG headquarters in the town of Kloten near Zurich. Little wonder in a country known around the world for its tasty and wide-ranging cheese creations. She continues, ”Shortly thereafter we began receiving inquiries from the confectionery industry. These companies were looking for special graters suited for chocolate and nuts. Our graters feature the advantage of not heating up during the process. This makes them additionally suitable for processing chocolate”. Working closely with its customers, over the years the company has repeatedly developed new machines and expanded its portfolio to correspond with demand.

Ms Kraus elaborates, “Often, customers approach us with only an idea and the desire to optimise their processes”. One example of this was the development of a fruit declumping machine for the Migros group subsidiary Delica. A prototype was provided to the company to try out in production. The machine was upgraded and is now a fixture in the production halls of acclaimed confectionery and food products manufacturers around the globe. “Today, our declumping machines’ capabilities extend beyond dried fruits to include deep-frozen blocks, and they can be operated directly in deep freeze facilities”, explains Ms Kraus. In addition to the ­previously mentioned graters and declumping machines, Brunner-Anliker also manufactures machines facilitating the cutting, shredding and grinding of foodstuffs. All of the machinery is produced and developed near the town of Bellinzona in the Swiss Canton of Ticino.

Nancy Kraus tells us, “Our focus is on the development of machines that solve specific problems for our customers and that can attain broad acceptance on the market. We also see great long-term innovation potential in this approach. We provide so-called basic models which we then optimise for the specific customer based on their particular needs”. Brunner-Anliker’s size with 80 employees allows the company to react with great flexibility and to work directly with the industry in the development of new products. Paraphrased, the company’s motto is roughly “There’s no such thing as impossible”.

The confectionery industry is known for being especially driven by innovation. The industry is constantly endeavouring to attract consumers with new solutions. “We had one inquiry as to whether we could supply a machine that grinds cinnamon sticks into cinnamon powder”, Ms Kraus reflects. “A grinder like this can also be used to produce Moringa powder from the tree’s leaves, an ingredient in a variety of products today”. The direct collaboration with the industry is not simply Brunner-Anliker’s business, but also one of its notable strengths.

Five years ago, the company was acquired by a consortium of several investors. Today, it no longer only exports its machines to EU countries, but throughout the whole world. Ms Kraus comments, “Our customers include companies in the USA, in Africa, in the Arab world and even in Australia. We’re growing constantly, especially in third-world countries. Large-scale confectionery and baked goods companies purchase our products, along with smaller specialist companies. Our clientele also includes contract packaging operations that package private label specialities for retail chains and discount food retailers, as well as commercial dealers”.

Cheese dairies and milk processors in Switzerland and abroad also remain Brunner-Anliker customers. The company’s work together with system suppliers is yet another high priority and comprises a well-functioning network that benefits all the parties participating in it.

Many customers today purchase complete production systems. It is in production lines like these, for instance, that a Brunner-Anliker grater for nuts is integrated. Ms Kraus notes, “For us this means looking beyond our own horizon and as a generalist constantly keeping an eye on the entire production process”.

Along with the ecology, other important issues in today’s food products manufacturing and processing include above all hygiene and traceability. The focus here is on avoiding direct contact with the products to the greatest possible degree in the manufacturing process, and the ability to trace products to their origin in the event of damages. Added to this is an emphasis on the reduction of waste, paraphrased by Nancy Kraus as “food waste”, by means of the most delicate possible processing. All this sets a high bar for the requirements the machines need to fulfil, while still remaining easy to operate and resistant to breakdowns.

Brunner-Anliker also has to assert itself as a specialist among its international competitors, which include European companies from a variety of segments. The fact that Switzerland is a highly specialised production location means that its labour costs and the frequently strong Swiss franc have a direct effect on the prices of the company’s products.

“Our prices are in the upper medium-price range”, says Nancy Kraus. This is and remains a constant challenge, but Brunner-Anliker is loyal to its location in Switzerland, particularly since many of its customers are also Swiss companies. And ultimately, price is only one of several components in an investment. “We’re appreciated not only for our uncompromising quality, reliability and flexibility, but also for our openness to special wishes or different viewpoints. Additionally, our operation is of a size small enough for us to implement adjustments quickly. We have reference customers around the world, and after a purchase we communicate regularly with the buyer. All together, this makes us both a reliable business partner and a successful company.”