Royal Avebe has won the Ingredients Innovation category at the World Confectionery Awards 2026 for its PerfectaGEL potato starch portfolio.
The technology can reduce gummy drying times from up to 72 hours to as little as three.
While the technology was recognised by the confectionery sector, the development could also have implications for nutraceutical manufacturers producing gummy supplements, where drying is a major constraint on production capacity.
Traditional starch-based and plant-based gummies can require 36-72 hours in drying cabinets.
This can limit throughput while increasing energy consumption and tying up manufacturing capacity.
For nutraceutical manufacturers, shorter drying times could offer benefits beyond production speed.
Reducing the time gummies spend under drying conditions may help minimise thermal degradation of heat-sensitive ingredients, including certain vitamins, minerals and probiotics, potentially supporting the stability and potency of finished formulations.
Avebe said its PerfectaGEL portfolio could provide two routes to improving gummy production efficiency.
PerfectaGEL ISET is an instant-setting potato starch designed to reduce drying times to as little as three hours.
The company said it can be used in both traditional starch moulding and rigid starchless moulds and remains stable across a range of pH conditions.
The latter characteristic could be particularly relevant to those in the nutra space, where manufacturers increasingly need to combine gelling systems with vitamins, minerals, botanicals and other active ingredients that can affect formulation pH.
According to Avebe, PerfectaGEL ISET could enable fortified vegan gummies that have previously been challenging to manufacture using conventional gelling systems.
Meanwhile, PerfectaGEL FS can be added at around one per cent to an existing formulation, with Avebe claiming it can reduce drying time or temperature by up to 50% without requiring reformulation or equipment changes.
The technologies could therefore help manufacturers meet growing demand for vegan and allergen-free supplement formats while maintaining production efficiency and clean-label positioning.
The World Confectionery Awards recognised PerfectaGEL for addressing what Avebe describes as one of the industry's key production bottlenecks.
“For years, the honest answer to a customer asking for more capacity was: build more drying cabinets,” said Marco Overdulve, Sales Director Europe at Royal Avebe.
PerfectaGEL gives us a better answer and it works on the line they already have.
