(PMCA — July 6, 2015 – Bethlehem, PA) — Twenty-six students recently completed PMCA’s short course, “Chocolate and Compound: From Bean to Bar and Everything in Between”. The course was held in York, PA from Tuesday, June 16 through Thursday, June 18.
Experienced industry professionals led the class through a series of presentations on topics ranging from the use of raw materials through processing finished product. Instructors demonstrated and enhanced classroom material through videos, sensory activities and discussion of observations.
Wolfgang Candy Company in York, PA generously hosted the hands-on portion of the course. This year an artistry portion was added, during which students decorated donated moulds with colored cocoa butter, practiced creating roses out of chocolate clay and decorated chocolate box lids. Students took their decorated moulds with them for the second day of hands-on work, where they had the opportunity to hand temper chocolate and use it to make clusters, molded items and hand-dipped centers. They also experimented with several different variables on a commercial enrober to gauge the effect each had on the resulting quality of the product. Students produced hollow bunnies, turkeys and other items on a commercial moulding line. Throughout the course, product evaluation and quality control were discussed.
On the final day of the course, students filled bags and boxes with their creations and said so long to all the friends they made, or met again, during the course.
Chocolate & Compound Course – Student Commentary:
“All instructors were knowledgeable, eager to answer questions and shared their knowledge in a way that everyone understood”.
“The presentation and organization was logically set out. When a new topic was covered, it built off a previous topic”.
“Thanks to everybody involved organizing this course. I’ll make sure to recommend it among my peers”.
The success of a course of this type involves many months of planning along with participation and contributions from a variety of PMCA member companies.
Instructors for the course and their corresponding companies were as follows:
Peter Jamieson, Atlas Point Technical Services
Mark Jarrard, Kerry Ingredients
Joe Sofia, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate
Marlene Stauffer, Blommer Chocolate Company
Ed Wilson, retired, AAK USA
Kim Yoder, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate
The following companies made a variety of contributions to the course:
For Donations of Product, Supplies and Equipment: AAK USA, Brunner, Buhler, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate, Chef Rubber, ChocoVision, Hilliard’s Chocolate System, Simplex Paper Box Corporation, Tomric Systems, Inc., TRICOR Systems Inc., Wolfgang Candy Company
The following students received a certificate of completion for the course:
Ariel Butera, Wolfgang Candy Company
James Carman, DeMet’s Candy Company
Erin Crane, DeMet’s Candy Company
Cindy Cosmos, Bell Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.
Angela Dennis, DeMet’s Candy Company
Ramona Goris, DeMet’s Candy Company
Daniel Gotwalt, Wolfgang Candy Company
Jose Gutierrez, Fabrica de Dulces y Chocolates La Esperanza SA
Michael Hayes, DeMet’s Candy Company
Nancy Hunt-Harvey, DeMet’s Candy Company
Tracy Jaico, Ingredion, Inc.
Katy Kaja, Clasen Quality Coatings
Mike Karr, Bauermeister, Inc.
Shatia Linton, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate
Ed Luck, Jerome & Horner
John Macris, Philadelphia Candy Company
Christina McPherson, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
Omid Mehrayin, Jerome & Horner
Melissa Barr, Palmer Candy Company
Bill Proksa, Savage Bros.
William Rodriguez, DeMet’s Candy Company
Sara Samala, Gertrude Hawk Chocolates
Michael Sinclair, Jerome & Horner
Samantha Susavidge, The Warrell Corporation
Sharon Tyson, DeMet’s Candy Company
Soni Ummadi, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
PMCA is a non-profit international trade association in the confectionery industry whose goals are to provide interactive forums for the open exchange of information through its annual production conference, to promote and direct basic and applied scientific research through its research program at leading universities and to educate and train current and future confectionery technical and manufacturing personnel worldwide through its short course program. The organization was originally founded in 1907 as the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Confectioners’ Association.