Candy applications
Hard candy manufacturing technology
Coperion offers fully integrated hard candy production systems designed to deliver precise dosing, fast changeovers, and hygienic processing. Our advanced technology ensures consistent quality and efficiency for hard candies used in food, health, and pharmaceutical industries.
Starch-free solutions for hard candy production
Hard candies, including varieties such as single-flavour, striped, layered, filled, and multi-colour candies, are produced efficiently using advanced depositing and forming technology, the industry-standard method for high-quality hard candy.
Coperion’s advanced equipment ensures precise control over candy size, shape, colour, and flavour, supporting both traditional and innovative recipes.
From classic solid candies to multi-layered or filled designs, our integrated lines provide consistent quality and smooth scalability from lab trials to full production. For enhanced product appeal, candies can incorporate inclusions such as toffee, fruit bits, or other confectionery elements, and feature vibrant colour and flavour combinations.
The technology brands behind our hard candy solutions
Examples of innovative hard candy applications
Bring to the market a new generation of exciting hard candies. From solid to filled, striped or smooth, clear or translucent enrobing, with or without inclusions, in fruity or indulgent milky flavors, our versatile concepts are crafted to excite today’s confectionery fans. And with recipe and process support from our global Test Center teams, we help turn every idea into sweet reality.
Filled
Chocolate centre
Filled
Solid shapes
Filled
Two colour centre fill
Layered
Two colour long-term layered
Solid
Clear candy
Solid
Novelty shapes
Striped
Two colours
Filled
Hard centre
Filled
Striped with chocolate centre
Layered
Side by side
Layered
Two colour short term layered
Solid
Clear candy with inclusions
Solid
with inclusions
Striped
Two colour side by side
Filled
High volume centre
Filled
Striped with soft centre
Layered
Three colour long-term layered
Medicated
Centre-filled candy
Solid
Fruit candy
Striped
Four colours
Filled
Soft centre
Filled
Striped with solid centre
Layered
Three colour short term layered
Medicated
Hard candy
Solid
High milk candy
Striped
Three colours
How hard candy production works
(MIH systems)
Ingredient handling
Multi-Ingredient Handling (MIH systems)
Bag dump stations provide a safe, dust-free way to manually add dry ingredients such as sugar, while liquid ingredients like glucose syrup and water are stored in tanks or totes and delivered through pumps. These systems ensure safe handling and consistent delivery of raw materials for precise weighing and mixing.
Cooking
The cooking stage transforms raw ingredients into a precise sugar mass with the right moisture content and temperature for hard candy production. This step ensures consistency, flavor, and quality across both standard and sugar-free recipes.
For sugar-free and specialty recipes, the Microfilm™ cooker uses vacuum thin-film technology for rapid, gentle cooking of heat-sensitive ingredients, while the Autofeed accurately handles up to eight dry and liquid components with full batch control. This combination ensures an ideal sugar mass for hard candies and lollipops, with continuous operation maintaining precise control of moisture and temperature across a wide range of batch sizes and recipes.
For caramel-based products or recipes requiring pre-cooking, the Carablend™ cooker as option provides precise, controlled cooking and consistent results.
All systems are designed for hygienic operation, consistent quality, and seamless integration with downstream forming equipment.
Depositing
Hard candies are shaped and formed using the ServoForm™ candy depositor. The depositor accurately fills moulds with sugar mass from the cooking stage, producing perfectly shaped candies with smooth surfaces and consistent size and weight.
The system can handle solid, striped, layered, or filled hard candy designs. Integrated cooling tunnels set the candies to the correct texture, while optional handling units ensure hygienic, high-speed production.
CFA Systems can be integrated for precise colour/flavour dosing minimizing waste and enabling rapid product changeovers.
Cooling tunnel
Cooling & finishing
The final step in hard candy production is cooling and finishing. Cooling tunnel lowers the temperature of freshly deposited hard candies, ensuring they set with the correct hardness, glossy surface, and stable shape.
Optional finishing equipment can include polishing, enrobing, or wrapping systems, preparing candies for packaging. These systems are designed for high-speed, consistent production while maintaining hygiene and minimizing manual handling.
See hard candy depositing in action
Discover how Coperion can enhance your hard candy production
Our starch-free hard candy line delivers precise ingredient handling, accurate depositing, integrated colour and flavour addition, and hygienic stick insertion — ensuring consistent quality, faster changeovers, and the flexibility to create innovative hard candy varieties efficiently.
Related technologies
Related confectionery applications
Get in touch
We take a distinctive approach to the processes that drive manufacturing. Let us know how we can help you achieve your goals for efficiency, productivity and safety.