Before the most cutting-edge technologies and new ingredients come on store shelves, they undergo thorough testing at food production facilities.

How can the taste of a product be improved and its usefulness and functionality be increased? What should the cost price be to ensure the shelf price meets the buyer's expectations? Due to the collaborative efforts of food ingredient manufacturers, technologists, and purchasing experts, the variety of products in grocery stores is continually growing. Even the most sophisticated gourmets discover new delicacies again and again.

Suppose you have purchased cookies, candy, bread, or dairy products in the last couple of weeks. In that case, there is a very high chance that the manufacturers of your favorite products participated in EFKO's cross-sectoral forum in Kazan.

Valentin Spichkov,
Head of the Food Market Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan

"Tatarstan's food industry is experiencing active growth. This is further supported by the data presented by Oleg Knyazkov, Deputy Head of the Center for Industry Expertise under Rosselkhozbank. We are the leading milk producer in Russia and are currently expanding these volumes even more. We are actively developing within the cheese sector, both industrial and craft. For my own household, I mainly choose local products. Cheeses, sausage, and bakery products are a must. An intriguing find at the event was candies containing sweet protein. It was very unusual. "I never thought it would be possible to make such tasty candies with no sugar."

During two days filled with a busy business agenda, discussions, and tastings, hundreds of ideas that might still astonish you have emerged here. What about some glazed curds with Dubai chocolate flavour? Delicate, with a distinct pistachio flavor, indistinguishable from those classic ones made of cottage cheese, but in fact, with a milk fat substitute. The second "course" includes Bounty and Citrus Delight cookies, crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth. Plus sugarless crispy puff pastry sticks with Provencal herbs. Its secret is in margarine for puff pastry products, which is part of EFKO's extensive product range.

For lovers of candies a la "ptichye moloko", technologists have developed a delicate raspberry soufflé "Pink Flamingo", and new recipes with equivalents and improvers of cocoa butter: tasty, heat-resistant, and good-looking throughout the entire shelf life. Substituting only 5% of cocoa butter impacts both the appearance and the potential decrease in production costs, and consequently, the retail price.

For those who love sweets without compromising health, new candies with sweet-tasting protein are offered. The pleasant tartness of lime in one recipe and a deeper, more intricate flavor from buckwheat tea in another. And ice cream that you’ve probably never tried. Not just zero-sugar sweet protein, but with the flavor of "cherry-tomato" – seemingly incompatible at first glance. Their combination proved to be both refreshing and expressive. Initially, you taste the cherry, but eventually, a hint of tomato emerges. “It produces a pleasant, albeit unusual, taste,” the tasting participants shared.

The innovations by EFKO technologists are merely concepts for execution in food manufacturing. Dubai chocolate was also once an experiment. Cherry-tomato ice cream might also be a hit soon.

Galina Lopatkina,
Chief Technologist of the Pobeda Confectionery Factory

"Pobeda company manufactures over 150 types of confectionery items at its two factories in the Moscow region and continually broadens its selection. For instance, we are currently getting ready to launch wafer cakes and are also starting a production line for new hollow chocolate figures, which are popular both as a favorite treat and as a pleasant souvenir choice. Among our selection, my favorite is the wafer candy "Bird of Happiness", one of our signature items.

We use EFKO confectionery fats and test all new products. We were also among the first to be offered a sample of sweet protein. We collaborated closely with technologists, sampling various recipes, self-prepared and suggested by EFKO technologists. During joint tastings, we came to some common decisions and concepts. There is now the prospect of using sweet protein in specific products. We won't integrate it into existing items, but we intend to develop new ones. As an option in protein bars or wafer candies."

Andrei Romanov,
General Director of Zemlyanskmoloko

“Our company specializes in the production of spreads, sour cream, and cottage cheese products. We work from Moscow to Dagestan and further: Smolensk, the Volga region. We’re presented in traditional retail: non-chain stores, markets. Firstly, we chose this field because we sensed the demand and were intrigued by the new technologies.

We began collaborating with EFKO as soon as it started producing milk fat substitutes. In the past, we had to rely on foreign products because this sector of industry was virtually nonexistent in Russia. EFKO is one of the pioneers in this sector. I can say that by strictly following the technology and choosing high-quality ingredients, products with milk fat substitutes offer a healthy and clearly more affordable alternative to dairy products."

Tatyana Kobyakova,
Head of the Department for Procurement of Raw Materials, Ingredients, and Packaging Materials of the Yugovsky Dairy Products Plant

“Our factory is actively expanding the cheese and butter sector, while in the B2B sector, we primarily focus on the "dry" areas. Whey, dry skim milk, plus we are one of the leaders in the sale of monolithic spreads. They are used for further processing, as a raw material component, for example, in confectionery products. Accordingly, the main EFKO product that we purchase is a milk fat substitute. We have been consistent with ourselves for a long time and have been working on Ecolact. We have tried numerous different lines, and this one currently meets all our requirements. The product possesses certain plasticity and lacks any foreign odors."

Boris Bashilov,
Director of Osnova Agro company

“I have been distributing EFKO food ingredients to various manufacturers, primarily in the Bryansk region, for over 15 years. A major benefit of EFKO in their operations is undoubtedly technological support. You don't just bring some goods. A technologist is available to advise on the suitable product and can visit the production site to address all the customer's requirements. Of the recent promising products, I would emphasize frying oils, which are in demand primarily in the HoReCa market.

The meeting was interesting, as always. This year, a significant portion of the agenda focused on macroeconomics. Currently, we are experiencing a period of macro instability everywhere, and the organizers have invited speakers to help us navigate the present situation. A useful event indeed!"