This year, the pandemic will continue to be with us. Thus, the team from ZDS – Zentralfachschule der Deutschen Süßwarenwirtschaft e. V., Solingen/Germany, has joined forces to be able to offer a digital learning experience, while also creating new ways to make event content accessible.

For 2021, the course range of the ZDS is prepared for various scenarios: classroom courses will continue to be held in compliance with hygiene regulations, but there will also be offered various courses as web-seminars, as online courses or as a combination of classroom and online courses.

Thus, the “Whistleblower” web seminar series of Choco Tec, which successfully started last year, will be continued with four further topic blocks: on 9 February 2021, Dr Martin Steinhaus from the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich, Prof. Dr Susanne Miescher Schwenninger from the ZHAW in Switzerland and Dr Joselio Vieira from the Nestlé Product Technology Centre in York/UK will give presentations on the topic of “Cocoa up to date”. To make the thematic block more interactive, additional tasting samples will be sent out before the event.

2021 does not only introduce the beginning of the transition to more digital formats, but also offers a reason to celebrate: the ZDS will celebrate its 70th anniversary! In 1951, the ZDS was founded as the “Association of the Central Technical School of the German Confectionery Industry” with the aim of promoting the training of all specialists in the confectionery industry and supporting scientific institutions in the confectionery sector.

Since its foundation, the ZDS has been the exclusive vocational school in Germany for the training of “confectionery technologists”. It also functions as a provider of further education and training and is an important educational partner for the entire international food industry.•