By Dr Bernhard Reichenbach, Editor-in-Chief

In difficult times, marked by environmental problems, scarcity of resources and inflation, good ideas and clever solutions are needed – solutions such as those offered by the companies Planet A Foods, GS1 Germany and GelatoPack. Planet A Foods has developed a tasty vegan chocolate without cocoa (p. 21). It is intended to help counteract the negative impacts associated with cocoa production, such as the destruction of the rainforest. Suitable for reusable use are the CO2-saving transport box presented by GS 1 Germany, which is intended to optimize logistics processes (p. 37), as well as the novel, completely recyclable ice cream packaging by GelatoPack (p. 47).

Packaging is a key topic in this issue: In a review of FachPack 2022 trade show, which recently took place in Nuremberg/Germany, we present interesting new developments.

The Portuguese fruit farm Veracruz Almonds, which produces particularly sweet almonds, is also breaking new ground. The high-quality, traceable raw material is produced sustainably and in a water-saving way.

In the “Ingredients” section, we furthermore report on the “FreMiScho” project of the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV). It is about ensuring constant sensory quality of milk chocolates.

Quality assurance is also a topic in the “Technology” section: With the help of a high-performance image processing system from Strelen, impurities such as plastic parts or vermin can be detected accurately during the production of chocolate bars.