Caramelle Fallani is present on the market with a wide range of products – both for children and adults – going from hard candies to lollipops. Their flagship is an exclusive organic and nutritional candy, created to be sold in all the best herbalist’s shops.

Their products are distinguished by the artisanal character which can be felt by the final consumer. The care and customization used in the presentation of each product, convey the feeling of dealing with a quality manufacturer. From the taste to the wrapping, from the recipe to the graphics, everything is customized according to customer’s request and in order to satisfy every specific need.

From my first meeting with Paolo Fallani – the second generation driving the company – I remember his tellings about the method of cooking candies with direct fire, and the sentence with which he closed our first conversation:

“The candy as it used to be made” – Paolo Fallani.

In case you are not a candy master, “direct or open fire” cooking is a system in which a gas-based fire is used to heat a kettle.

The raw materials were put in a kettle – in the oldest jargon “boiler” – then the characterizing ingredients were added. The syrup was brought to boil until it reached the temperature necessary to remove excess water from the product. This took place in an open atmosphere (hence the definition of open fire).

The amber color, typical of candies cooked over direct heat, is due to high temperatures and long cooking times.

This ancient cooking system, used by candy masters up to the early ‘900, allows sugar to caramelize, in order to release and highlight unmistakable aromas and flavors. However, the market has become more and more demanding in recent years, so Caramelle Fallani has also had to develop new products alongside traditional ones.

In addition to barley candies – for which they are particularly recognized – they have been able to create a wide range of new organic products, thanks to the organic certification. They have also specialized in the production of gluten-free and lactose-free, all products suitable for vegetarian nutrition.

What hasn’t changed since 1926 is that the Fallani family still produces high quality candies.

Customer requirements: where tradition meets innovation

I remember the first meetings with Paolo, when he brought his die sets to Nuova Euromec and explained to me that – one day – he would have wanted to replace his two old rotary forming lines. He was working with a rotary Melzi line and a Robust line, a bit dated, and he realized that those machines – very mechanical in their construction – required a lot of effort from the operators, both in the production of precise candies and in the maintenance.

If the operator was not so experienced and attentive, the size and weight of the candies could leave the correct range, necessary to be able to wrap them without machine stops. Moreover, it was not always easy to repair or replace mechanical parts of plants that had been out of production for many years.

However, perhaps Paolo was torn.

On the one hand, I think he didn’t want to lose the artisanal and high-quality character of the traditional products that he was able to achieve with those systems. Replacing an old work partner, the lines so dear to him, could seem a betrayal of his values. On the other hand, the desire to change those old systems, became more and more a necessity. Especially after the transfer of production in the new plants of Empoli, with an area of 20,000 square meters and the demand to produce up to 22,000 kilos per day.

Our Solution: Apollo mini line

Thanks to the high level of expertise demonstrated in the technical support provided for the die sets, Fallani thought of New Euromec to meet their need.

We have therefore proposed – and then supplied – an Apollo Mini line based on the chain forming system. This system allows to maintain the needs of small artisanal productions, which require a high quality of the final product at the same time. In addition, it allows a quick change of shapes – in less than one minute – and a production of candies with high percentages of filling; this is possible thanks to cutting and forming in line.

Our new Apollo forming line replaced their two old lines Melzi and Robust.

It perfectly combined with the existing cooking system and with the need for a very flexible product change, from one batch to another.

The result: flexibility and modularity in candy production

An investment that immediately returned a high production output, with consequent economic return; all this thanks to the reduction of waste and a better quality of the final product. Perfectly formed and seamless candies, precise tolerances and weight control to facilitate the work of the wrapping machines.

The flexibility of the chain forming machine has allowed – thanks to the fast change of the die set in 1 minute – to quickly alternate in production the various shapes produced by Fallani, reducing the machine stops due to shape change. Subsequently – the incredible flexibility and modularity of the chain forming system – have allowed an upgrade of the line, with the addition of a die set for the production of a bear lollipop.

Today, the fourth generation of the Fallani family, led by Irene and Matteo, can count on a production department highly flexible and perhaps unique in Italy.

On the same line they can produce traditional candies and new products, such as lollipops, particularly appreciated by younger consumers.

Thinking back to what Paolo said: “the candies as they were made once….” maybe today we could say:

As good as they used to be, but made even better …

Author: Mauro Gesti, Sales Manager.