Gold medals in the nominations "Innovative Product", "Products for Healthy Lifestyle" and "Best Product". The oil and fat division sums up the results of participation in the international exhibition of food products "PRODEXPO - 2023".
More than 2 thousand participants from 70 countries of the world. 68 thousand visitors. Dozens of meetings, non-stop negotiations, rich business program and presentations of new products. The international exhibition of food products "PRODEXPO - 2023" has ended in Moscow.
Managers and technologists of the EFKO Group of Companies worked at the booth of the oil and fat division all five days - they helped representatives of confectionery, bakery and dairy enterprises to select ingredients from our assortment.
The main intrigue of PRODEXPO is what products will receive the highest awards in competitions within the framework of the insert. These awards are among the most honorable for food manufacturers, the quality mark is a serious competitive advantage in the market. Each nominee of the PRODEXPO competitions knows that it is possible to receive an award only if the product meets the selection criteria one hundred percent.
Quality, safety.
Taste, aroma, consistency.
Packaging and labeling.
All this and more is assessed by a commission of experts. These are leading specialists of scientific institutes, industry unions, and government bodies.
Tasting, checking, protocols… and a long-awaited victory!
11 products of EFKO Group received the highest awards, one of them - in two competitions at once!
"Gold" in the competition "Best Product"
For the confectionery industry, the victory was decisive - three medals at once in the "Best Product" competition. For the equivalent of Equilade cocoa butter and premium confectionery fats: Econat and Econd. It's not just a badge that we put on our labels. It is a recognition that we have risen to the challenge and are on a par with the leading multinational companies - the fats for the confectionery industry that we have developed have helped to completely replace imports.
“We produce all these products using high-tech dry and liquid fractionation methods - our company is the only one in all of Russia that has mastered them and uses them at its production sites,” said Alena Surkova, director of the confectionery industry of the oil and fat division. - The equivalent completely repeats the composition of cocoa butter and can replace it in chocolate glazes. "Ekonat" and "Ekond" are tempered fats, optimal for fillings of Assorted sweets. "Econat" - for more delicate, and "Ekond" - for harder - such as pralines.
In 2022, almost all large fast food chains switched their production to our Oilmix frying oil, the quality of this product was also confirmed by the gold medal at PRODEXPO-2023.
Oilmix» has significant advantages over conventional vegetable oils, - says Yulia Grigorova, Deputy Director of the Fat and Oil Division for Margarine Products. - Thanks to the optimally selected composition, it helps to avoid foam, as well as foreign tastes and odors that occur when frying in ordinary sunflower oil.
Gold medals in the competition "Best Product" were given to our milk fat substitutes OilBlend and Ecolact. Until 2023, our HMLs were issued according to technical specifications in compliance with the mandatory requirements of the EAEU - they contain general criteria
From March 1, 2023, EFKO will produce milk fat substitutes according to the new standard. It applies to HMLs for various sectors of the food industry.
New GOST 31648-2022 “Milk fat substitute. Specifications” entered into force on January 1, 2023. The standard has been developed in accordance with the current legislation. His approval was preceded by work over the past few years. The transition period for EFKO took two months.
GOST contains detailed requirements for raw materials, physical, chemical and organoleptic characteristics of the product, control methods, and so on. The release of a product in accordance with GOST is not mandatory - manufacturers can continue to produce products according to specifications that are developed at their own enterprises. It is still mandatory that products comply with the technical regulations of the Customs Union, which spell out uniform requirements for food safety for the EAEU countries.
The main reason for the introduction of the new GOST was the expansion of the range of application of ZMZH in recent years. There was a need to establish additional characteristics and standards that take into account modern ideas about the properties of a milk fat substitute.
Changes have been made to the possible raw material composition. Sunflower oil, the main oilseed processing product in Russia, has been added to the list of raw materials. The new standard also clarifies the “taste and smell” characteristic, introduces rationing of the anisidine number, and adds other changes.
“To produce or not to produce products in accordance with GOST is the choice of the manufacturer, - notes Alexander Alekseenko, director of the dairy industry of the fat-and-oil division of EFKO Group. - We have done it and since March 1 we have been releasing ZMZH in accordance with GOST ".
