The present application relates a method for manufacturing gummi food products and products so made and in particular to so called "personalised" products that have a shape and/or surface feature thereon which is designed (at least in part) by input from the purchaser or consumer.

There are many different types of food products, some of which (moulded food products) can be made from moulds. For example, various moulding processes are typically used to manufacture products such as gummy sweets or gummy candies (hereinafter referred to as "gummies", or "gummy" or "gummi" in the singular). Preferred 'gummies' exhibit at least in part a deformable, non-rigid, plastic, rubber, chewable and/or gelatinous consistency. Gummies may be prepared from a composition that comprises gelling agent(s) (such as gelatine), sugar(s), flavouring(s) and/or colorant(s).

Gummies are formed in moulds. Typically these moulds are made from starch in which the gummi material is deposited. The starch holds a negative impression of the gummi shapes and this is made from a master positive (i.e. having the same shape as the gummi). The master positive is formed from a more durable material can be used many times, the starch negative is typically used only a few times or even once, though the starch can be recycled or reuse. The gummies typically require several days to dry in the starch mould before they can be demoulded. These gummies use known gelling agents to solidify their liquid contents. These gelling agents act relatively slowly (over days) because they are used in small amounts and due to the nature of the gelling agent used. When manufacturing large volumes of gummies for the mass market it is desirably that the gelling agent is cheap, widely available and well tolerated by the consumer.

In a factory or industrial environment slow drying of starch moulds is not an issue as identical gummies are being prepared. The drying starch moulds can be stacked in trays in multiple racks as part of a production flow. In an industrial process there is always a stock of (the same design of) gummies that has dried sufficiently to feed the production line and the stock of drying moulds is continuously replenished. Thus there is no need for gelling to occur quickly. For a low cost low margin product such as a gummi there would be no reason to investigate alternative gelling agents that may be faster, or use gelling agents in higher amounts to speed up gelling.

However when making personalised gummi shapes which have a very limited production run, use of starch moulds is not practical as the slow process cannot provide "instant" personalisation, where a consumer places an order and waits for the product to be collected in the same visit or even the same day.

As used herein the term personalisation denotes a consumer or purchaser driven selection of the shape of a gummi product. This is to be distinguished from other types of personalisation, for example on packages where the routine use of techniques such laser printing (already used to add unique production identifiers to a pack) also allows each pack or sub sets of packs to have unique designs printed thereon (e.g. for competitions and the like). Preparing products having a different consumer defined (i.e. "personalised") shapes is a much more challenging problem. It will also be appreciated that 'instant' personalisation in this context means making the product within a time frame that is acceptable to the consumer, being a matter of a few hours or minutes delay between the order being placed and the product being ready for collection. It is not a requirement that any instantly personalised product appears immediately (seconds or a very few minutes) after it is ordered. To achieve instant personalisation one might envisage making gummies from different mould materials than starch which require less drying before demoulding and might thus produce gummies more quickly. However as well as being expensive and wasteful of mould material (which unlike starch cannot be reused), common methods for rapid production of bespoke moulds have different problems. If the mould is prepared by additive (3D) printing of a polymer, photo-initiators must be used to initiate polymer curing, and these are potentially harmful and are not food contact approved. This rules out 3D printing as method for making moulds that will contact edible foodstuffs such as gummies. Thus there is still no simple, inexpensive and/or quick method to make bespoke moulds which might be incorporated into an industrial method to personalise gummies.

The decision to personalise the shape of an inexpensive product such as a gummi is often impulsive, made by a consumer on the spur of the moment. Any factors that delay or otherwise impede that decision will deter the consumer impulse to purchase a personalised product rather than buy the really available standard product and thus reducing sales opportunities. Whilst a small premium can be charged for a personalised shape of product versus a conventionally shaped product, this margin is small and only limited resources can be used to achieve shape personalisation before it ceases to be commercially viable.

So whilst it is always possible in theory to make gummies with bespoke shapes to order entirely by hand as one might do at home in the kitchen or a professional confectioner may do in a one off store demonstration or routinely in very high end luxury stores for expensive products. However this is time consuming and not practical or sustainable in a commercial environment for the mass market when making large volumes of inexpensive product. There is an issue when handling product on an industrial scale with large total volumes, for example where a large number of different personalisation orders are received even if the number of gummies to be made within each order may be low. There is still a need to provide either an automatic process to handle personalisation after an order has been made or a semi-automatic process which can be partially performed by hand but which for example allows efficient use of resources such as confectioner time.

Because of these issues significant or widespread personalisation of the shape of gummies has not been achieved practically, sustainably and/or in a commercially viable manner.

In WO2016-170035 the applicant describes a method of preparing a food product that includes defining a three-dimensional shape for the food product by computer- implemented steps of receiving and processing a two-dimensional image from which a file comprising the digital representation of a three-dimensional shape is generated for at least a part of the food product. The digital representation is used to control an additive and/or subtractive three-dimensional manufacturing apparatus as part of a process for forming the food product, for example by forming a suitably shaped mould. Whilst this provides a means for a consumer to personalise food products such as gummies, the process is complex to operate in practise.

Surprisingly the applicant has discovered a means to set gummies quickly and/or generate a series of bespoke moulds and means to accelerate setting which can be used to prepare consumer defined gummies in a sufficiently short time period that it is feasible for instant personalisation. This allows for example a purchaser to create a bespoke gummi in store and collect the finished gummi in reasonable space of time perhaps in the same visit.

The object of the present invention is to solve some or all of the problems or disadvantages (such as identified herein) with the prior art. There is still a need to provide a simpler process that is easier to use and can be implemented optionally by a person such as a trained confectioner yet is capable of producing large numbers of product consistently optionally on an industrial (i.e. non kitchen or home) scale.

The invention simplifies the process of personalisation by using a library of predefined shapes and setting agents to customise gummies to allow confectioner more efficiently to make gummies to order in store from limited set of templates. The process could also be used for on-line ordering.

The process can be a manual process or semi-automated or (for example if robots are used) can be completely automatic.

Therefore broadly in accordance with the present invention there is provided a method for preparing a personalised moulded gummi product comprising the steps of:

a) receiving an order for a personalised gummi product, the order generated by a consumer from an input means which allows the consumer to select from a library of predefined topological options and pre-defined product sensory attributes; where

associated with each pre-defined topological option is at least one pre-defined mould element; and

associated with each pre-defined product sensory attribute is at least one pre-defined edible additive;

b) selecting the at least one pre-defined mould element corresponding to the selected topological option and selecting the least one edible additive corresponding to the selected product sensory attribute;

c) forming at least one personalised gummi mould from the at least one selected mould element;

d) preparing at least one personalised liquid gummi composition by mixing a (optionally pre-prepared) liquid gummi composition with the at least one selected edible additive and at least one setting agent at least one setting agent and/or component therefor;

e) depositing liquid gummi composition into the at least one personalised gummi mould;

f) allowing the liquid gummi composition to solidify in the at least one gummi mould to form at least one solid gummi component;

g) removing the at least one solid gummi component from the mould;

h) assembling the at least one solid gummi component to form a personalised gummi product as pre-defined and selected in the consumer generated order;

i) informing the consumer that their order is ready for collection.

The process of the invention may be performed manually, automatically and/or semi- automatically. By manual is meant the step or steps are performed by hand, preferably by a trained person such as a skilled confectioner to speed up the process. By automatic is meant the step or steps are performed under computer control for example which instructs a suitable robot and/or other equipment. By semi-automatic is meant that the process of the invention is partially performed manually and partially automatically, for example where each step or steps is either manual or automatic and/or some or all steps can themselves be semi-automatic being partially performed manually and partially automatically. Even where each or a given step is performed by hand the instructions may be provided automatically by computer from the order inputted as part of the process of the invention. For example the person performing part or all of a step can be provided with information about the nature of the personalisation which pattern and/or templates have been selected and/or be given hints or suggestions about which templates or combinations could be used to most efficiently generate the selected personalisation options. By this manner manually operation can be speeded up and even unskilled persons can perform some tasks freeing up skilled confectioner time for the more difficult and complex elements.

Optionally the liquid gummi composition with which the edible additives and/or setting agents are mixed is pre-prepared to reduce complexity (or selected from a range of such prep-prepared compositions), though it may also be made fresh to order e.g. by hand. The optionally pre-prepared liquid gummi composition is preferably neutral in flavour and/or colour to provide a neutral base and minimise the impact on the components that are added to generate personalisation.

In a preferred embodiment of the process of the invention at least one of the edible additives may comprises the (or some of the) setting agent that causes the liquid gummi composition to solidify within the mould which has been added before deposition. Thus optionally the setting agent does not have to be a separate composition from the edible additives which reduces complexity, however usually there will be a separate setting agent to reduce the risk of premature gelling before deposition in the mould.

Thus in a preferred embodiment of the present invention step (d) comprises a mixing step where at least two components of the setting agent are mixed together to generate the setting agent which can be used to initiate gelling of the personalised liquid composition in the mould.

Where the setting agent is a separate composition it is preferably neutral in flavour and/or colour. The setting agent can be a gelling agent and/or a catalyst, accelerant and/or activants for the gelling agent so it forms the gel or increases the speed at which the gel will form. Thus the setting agent can comprise: accelerants which may be consumed during gelling (e.g. a pH adjuster such as an acid or alkali), catalysts generally not consumed (such as enzyme); and/or activants (which comprise any other means which activate gelling such as heat or radiation and/or materials (e.g. photo activate compounds) which sensitise the gelling agent for such activating means). The setting agent can thus exist as a plurality of different components which components are mixed shortly before use (e.g. gelling agent and catalyst or accelerant). Preferably to minimise complexity the setting agent exists as two components (e.g. is a binary composition) and optionally one of these components may be present in at least one of the edible additives (if separate) and/or the optionally pre-prepared liquid gummi composition.

It will be appreciated that all ingredients and components of the gummi product described herein must be edible i.e. suitable and safe for human consumption. Naturally sourced, non-artificial components (such as natural flavourings, colours and colouring foods) are preferred where possible.

In the present invention, preferably the setting agent comprises an acid, preferably the setting agent consists of an acid.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the acid used as the setting agent has a pH (preferably measured at 20.0+2 deg. C) of between 0.5 and 2.5, preferably 0.5 and 2.0. In an embodiment of the present invention, the acid component is selected from any acid approved for use in foodstuffs, for example, the acid component is selected from the group consisting of citric acid, phosphoric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, lactic acid, fumaric acid and combinations thereof, preferably citric acid. In an embodiment, the setting agent may comprise a buffer, preferably in addition to the acid. In an embodiment of the present invention, the buffer component is selected from any buffer approved for use in food stuffs, for example, the buffer is selected from the group consisting of tri-sodium citrate (anhydrous or dehydrate forms), sodium dihydrogen phosphate and combinations thereof.

In an embodiment, the setting agent comprises water, preferably in combination with an acid and preferably in combination with an acid and a buffer.

In one embodiment of the present invention the setting agent may comprise a binary composition of acid catalysed pectin and an acid composition (sufficiently acidic to initiate gelling at the desired rate when mixed with the pectin).

The physical form of the setting agent and/or edible additives may be fluid (e.g. liquid or flowable solid such as a powder) or any form which can be readily and rapidly mixed with the other components during the process of the invention.

Preferably the gelling agent (and/or one or more components thereof, e.g. where a binary composition) is of a type and present in sufficient amounts within the mould that it causes the liquid gummi composition to solidify in the mould within a pre-determined gelling time. Solidification denotes that the liquid has gelled to such an extent that the composition can be removed from the mould (demoulded) and will still substantially retain the shape formed within the mould. The time taken to do this is denoted the gelling time and is usually the rate limiting step in gummi production. Usefully the gelling time is pre-determined to be a period which is acceptable to the consumer (and optionally may even be defined and/or selected from pre-determined options as part of the input for the ordering process) such that instant personalisation is possible, i.e. the consumer can collect the personalised product whilst waiting after the order has been created (e.g. in store).

It will be understood that gelling times may also be dynamic and change according to many factors, non-limiting examples being location, time of day, season of year, urgency of consumer, culture, how many consumers are waiting, availability of confectioners and/or equipment amongst many other factors.

The advantage of the process of the present invention is that it provides improved flexibility and efficiency when preparing bespoke gummi product. For example the desire to minimise gelling time (as part of reducing total preparation time for a personalised product) can be balanced against many other competing factors and yet if desired a consistent approach can be followed for the same set of factors to provide a reliable consumer experience. The process of the invention can also be integrated with other systems as convenient such as: stock keeping, stock ordering, point of sale, consumer loyalty programs etc. This allows the ordering step to be tailored to the specific consumer and/or current circumstance in-store, optionally with context specific menu options, predictive options and/or tailored selections offered based on specific consumer needs (e.g. a consumer selected maximum gelling time and/or previous preferences) and/or current stock data.

More usefully under standard conditions the gelling time is set to be no more than 2 hours, even more usefully no more than 1 hour, most usefully no more than 30 minutes, for example no more than 20 minutes, such as more than 10 minutes.

Optionally step d (preparing the liquid confection) and step e (depositing the liquid) occur at the same time, where the additive is added to the mould together with the pre-prepared liquid and mixed together therein and/or whilst they are both being deposited. Alternatively mixing occurs immediately before depositing step in which case the liquid deposited is the personalised liquid. It is preferred that mixing occurs on or immediately prior to depositing to prevent the liquid solidifying in the depositor and not in the mould.

Preferably the pre-defined topological options comprise one or more different shapes and/or symbols which more preferably may be formed in response to the consumer selection by selecting a corresponding member from the library of pre-defined mould elements, most preferably solely from members of the library of mould elements. Usefully the pre-defined mould elements comprise one or more symbols (such as alphanumerical characters). The pre-defined mould elements may be used to form at least one single mould shape to form a gummi component as an individual symbol. Alternatively or as well in the same consumer generated order a plurality of the pre-defined mould elements may be combined (the plurality of elements being same and/or different) to form at least one combined mould shape to form a gummi component as a combination a plurality of symbols.

Preferably the pre-defined product sensory attributes comprise one or more different taste(s), flavour(s) and/or colour(s) for the product or component thereof which optionally may be generated in response to the consumer selection by selecting a corresponding member from a library of pre-defined edible additives, most preferably solely from members of the library of edible additives. At least one of the edible additives used to form each personalised liquid composition comprises a setting agent so the liquid composition deposited in every personalised gummi mould comprises a setting agent in sufficient amounts to set the liquid rapidly within the mould.

The edible additives within the library may have one selected attribute per additive (such as flavour or colour) or a plurality of such selected attributes (e.g. where flavour and colour are matched) especially where such attributes are likely to be selected together. In one embodiment the edible setting agent is separate from the other edible additives and is added to the edible additive and/or the liquid composition only at the last minute immediately before or during depositing into the personalised mould.

Usefully a plurality of personalised gummi moulds are used in the process of the present invention to form a plurality of personalised solid gummi components, which components are used in the assembly step to form the final personalised product which the properties as defined by the consumer selections from the pre-defined library when inputting the order. The plurality of solid gummi components may have the same or different shapes and the same or different sensory attributes (such as flavour and/or colour). The assembly may be manual (e.g. using a skilled person such as a confectioner or automatic (e.g. using a robot under computer control). Where the solid gummi components comprise in whole or in part the shape of one or more letter, number and/or symbol the components may be assembled such that the final personalised product comprises in whole or in part shapes that form a consumer selected message and/or pattern optionally such pre-selected messages or patterns also being limited to those from a pre-defined library offered to the consumer when the order is input.

Advantageously the pre-prepared liquid gummi composition is absent of significant flavour or colour (i.e. neutral in taste and transparent of white in colour) but contains the other components needed to form the desired solid gummi (i.e. is a precursor therefor). Thus more advantageously the pre-prepared liquid gummi composition forms a base into which the edible additives can be added to create a library of personalised liquid compositions (personalised by taste and/or colour) which can be deposited in the personalised moulds. Individual flavours and/or colours available for selection by the consumer when inputting their order can also be built up by pre-determined combination of a few building blocks of primary flavours and/or primary colours. As part of the order the system can instruct (or directly control) the amounts of edible additives needed to achieve a given colour and/or flavour. This principle can further limit the underlying number of different additives compositions that are needed to simply the process for the confectioner or industrial producer. More sophisticated systems that may be used in a process of the present invention are usefully under computer control can be used to calculate additive mixtures in real time allow a wider selection (even continuous) range of flavours and/or colours.

In one embodiment of the invention the compositions used in the present invention (such as the edible additives) may be fluids which can be mixed together automatically by means such as valves, pumps, syringes and the like. In another embodiment the edible additives may be supplied in pre-prepared syringes which can be used manually or semi automatically (e.g. by a confectioner) optionally as directed by a computer controlled system in response to the consumer generated order, to speed up the gelling time for moulding and/or assembly of the personalised gummi product (i.e. reduce the defined time period).

A small number of key shapes or mould elements can be used to create a small number of building block shapes to create multi shaped components which can be combined to create many more different shapes.

By these means despite limiting the consumer to only a small selection from a small library being offered to the consumer and using a limited set of building block shapes, flavours and colours a very wide variety of personal variations in the final product are in fact available to the end consumer to create a high degree of perceived personalisation whilst limiting the complexity of personalisation for the manufacturer.

Advantageously the liquid composition is a gummi precursor (i.e. does not require any additional ingredients other than the setting agent and/or edible additives as described herein to form a gummi).

Advantageously the edible additive has a flavour selected from a library comprising, more advantageously consisting of one or more:

fruit flavour, and/or citrus flavour.

Usefully the flavour library comprises one more fruit flavours and/or any mixtures thereof. More usefully a non-limiting list of those common fruit flavours being especially suitable for gummies are those selected from: apple, banana, blackcurrant, blueberry, cherry, grape, grapefruit, lemon, lime, mango, orange, pear, pineapple, raspberry, redcurrant, strawberry, watermelon and/or yuzu. Most useful are blueberry, blackcurrant, lemon, lime, strawberry and/or orange as for example these six flavours exhibit primary colours which can also be mixed in various combinations to create further different colours.

Advantageously the setting agent is selected from a library comprising, more advantageously consisting of agars, gellatins, natural gums, starches, pectins and/or any suitable polysaccharides and/or proteins and/or any suitable mixtures thereof. Usefully the gelling agent may be used in a total amount of from 0.1 % to 10% by weight, based on the total weight of the personalised liquid composition in the mould being 100%.

A non-limiting list of suitable gelling agents for use in the present invention conveniently comprises: agar, alginic acid (and/or food suitable salts thereof, such as ammonium, calcium, potassium and/or sodium alginate); carrageenan, gellatin, locust bean gum, pectin and/or suitable mixtures and/or combinations thereof. In one embodiment of the invention the gelling agent is selected as from agents that act rapidly optionally without further activating means, catalyst and/or accelerant, and can provide a suitably short gelling time such as described herein when added directly to the liquid composition. In another embodiment slower acting gelling agents can be used where used in conjunction with activating means, catalyst and/or accelerant to achieve the desired gelling times specified herein. If slower acting gelling agents are used then conveniently to reduce the gelling time (especially in the absence of an activating means, catalyst and/or accelerant) the gelling agent may be used at a higher concentration than known heretofor when the same gelling agent is used in an industrial process for making identical products (e.g. in a starch mould to form gummies).

Advantageously the mould elements are selected from a library comprising, more advantageously consisting of, negative moulds that produce positive shapes selected from: roman letter and arabic numerals, most advantageously a alphabetic set coming from the same font design to create a more aesthetically pleasing effect when the elements are combined (in mould and/or in product) to create multi element shapes.

A further aspect of the invention provides a personalised gummi product obtained and/or obtainable by assembling a plurality of personalised solid moulded gummi components prepared and/or preparable by a process of the present invention.

A yet further aspect of the invention broadly provides use of a personalised solid moulded gummi component and/or personalised edible additive as described herein in a process of the present invention for the manufacture of a personalised gummi product as described herein.

A still further aspect of the invention broadly provides a method for preparing a foodstuff and/or gummi product comprising providing at least one personalised solid component and/or at least one personalised edible additive as described herein.

Many other variations embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art and such variations are contemplated within the broad scope of the present invention. Thus it will be appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are for clarity described in the context of separate embodiments may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely various features of the invention, which are for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Further aspects of the invention and preferred features thereof are given in the claims herein, which form an integral part of the disclosure of the present invention whether or not such claims correspond directly to parts of the description herein.

Certain terms as used herein are defined and explained below unless from the context their meaning clearly indicates otherwise.

Any suitable manufacture process may be used to prepare gummi products such as moulding, extension and deposition.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have and should be given the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, as used herein plural forms of the terms herein are to be construed as including the singular form and vice versa.

The terms 'effective', 'acceptable' 'active' and/or 'suitable' (for example with reference to one or more of any process, use, method, application, preparation, product, material, formulation, composition, recipe, component, ingredient, compound, monomer, oligomer, polymer precursor, and/or polymer described herein of and/or used in the present invention as appropriate) will be understood to refer to those features of the invention which if used in the correct manner provide the required properties to that which they are added and/or incorporated to be of utility as described herein. Such utility may be direct for example where a moiety has the required properties for the aforementioned uses and/or indirect for example where a moiety has use as a synthetic intermediate and/or diagnostic and/or other tool in preparing other moiety of direct utility. As used herein these terms also denote that sub-entity of a whole (such as a component and/or ingredient) is compatible with producing effective, acceptable, active and/or suitable end products and/or compositions.

Preferred utility of the present invention comprises use as a food stuff, preferably as a gummi product and/or intermediate in the manufacture thereof.

Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, as used herein plural forms of the terms herein are to be construed as including the singular form and vice versa.

The term "comprising" as used herein will be understood to mean that the list following is non exhaustive and may or may not include any other additional suitable items, for example one or more further feature(s), component(s), ingredient(s) and/or substituent(s) as appropriate.

In the discussion of the invention herein, unless stated to the contrary, the disclosure of alternative values for the upper and lower limit of the permitted range of a parameter coupled with an indicated that one of said values is more preferred than the other, is to be construed as an implied statement that each intermediate value of said parameter, lying between the more preferred and less preferred of said alternatives is itself preferred to said less preferred value and also to each less preferred value and said intermediate value.

For all upper and/or lower boundaries of any parameters given herein, the boundary value is included in the value for each parameter. It will also be understood that all combinations of preferred and/or intermediate minimum and maximum boundary values of the parameters described herein in various embodiments of the invention may also be used to define alternative ranges for each parameter for various other embodiments and/or preferences of the invention whether or not the combination of such values has been specifically disclosed herein.

Unless noted otherwise, all percentages herein refer to weight percent, where applicable.

It will be understood that the total sum of any quantities expressed herein as percentages cannot (allowing for rounding errors) exceed 100%. For example the sum of all components of which the composition of the invention (or part(s) thereof) comprises may, when expressed as a weight (or other) percentage of the composition (or the same part(s) thereof), total 100% allowing for rounding errors. However where a list of components is non exhaustive the sum of the percentage for each of such components may be less than 100% to allow a certain percentage for additional amount(s) of any additional component(s) that may not be explicitly described herein. The term "substantially" as used herein may refer to a quantity or entity to imply a large amount or proportion thereof. Where it is relevant in the context in which it is used "substantially" can be understood to mean quantitatively (in relation to whatever quantity or entity to which it refers in the context of the description) there comprises an proportion of at least 80%, preferably at least 85%, more preferably at least 90%, most preferably at least 95%, especially at least 98%, for example about 100% of the relevant whole. By analogy the term "substantially-free" may similarly denote that quantity or entity to which it refers comprises no more than 20%, preferably no more than 15%, more preferably no more than 10%, most preferably no more than 5%, especially no more than 2%, for example about 0% of the relevant whole. Preferably where appropriate (for example in amounts of ingredient) such percentages are by weight.

The percentage differences for improved and comparable properties herein refer to fractional differences between the component and/or composition of and/or used in the invention and the known reference component and/or composition described herein where the property is measured in the same units in the same way (i.e. if the value to be compared is also measured as a percentage it does not denote an absolute difference). Unless otherwise indicated all the tests herein are carried out under standard conditions as also defined herein. As used herein, unless the context indicates otherwise, standard conditions means, atmospheric pressure, a relative humidity of 50% ±5%, ambient temperature (22°C ±2°) and an air flow of less than or equal to 0.1 m/s. Unless otherwise indicated all the tests herein are carried out under standard conditions as defined herein.

All percentages are given in percent by weight, if not otherwise indicated.

Figures

The invention is illustrated by the following non-limiting Figures 1 to 10 where:

Figures 1 A and Figure 1 B illustrate the concept behind Example 1 of the invention shown in steps 1 (i) and 1 (ii) for an interactive instore personalisation of gummies which preferably uses a confectioner or other similarly skilled person to implement.

Figure 2 illustrate the concept behind Example 2 of the invention shown in steps 2(i), 2(ii- a[alpha]), 2(ii-3[beta]) and (iii) for an interactive in-store personalisation of gummies which optionally can be performed by less skilled personnel and/or may even be capable of being automated.

Figures 3 to 10 show various other personalisation concepts according to the invention as described below in respective Examples 3 to 10.

It should be noted that embodiments and features described in the context of one of the aspects or embodiments of the present invention also apply to the other aspects of the invention. Although embodiments have been disclosed in the description with reference to specific examples, it will be recognized that the invention is not limited to those embodiments. Various modifications may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and may be acquired from practice of the invention and such variations are contemplated within the broad scope of the present invention. It will be understood that the materials used and the chemical details may be slightly different or modified from the descriptions without departing from the methods and compositions disclosed and taught by the present invention. Further aspects of the invention and preferred features thereof are given in the claims herein.

Examples

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the following non limiting examples which are by way of illustration only.

Example 1 (see Figures 1A and 1 B)

One example of the invention is shown schematically in Figure 1A generally and specifically as steps 1 (i) and 1 (ii) in Figure 1 B which are described below which may be used for an interactive personalisation in store.

Step 1 (i) is a consumer input step where the consumer assembles their personalized mold from an extensive range of pre-made silicone inserts and also chooses the colour and flavour of the gummies to be prepared.

Step 1 (ii) is performed by a confectioner or other suitably skilled person, where on receipt of the order from step 1 (i) the confectioner mixes the heated gummy mix with acid and flavour before carefully creating the gummy.

Example 2 (see Figure 2)

Another example of the invention is shown schematically in Figure 2 as four steps, step 2(i) and steps 2(ii-a[alpha]) and 2(ii-3[beta]) and then step 2(iii) as described below which also may be used for personalisation in store.

Step 2(i) is consumer input step where the consumer assembles their personalized mould from an extensive range of pre-made silicone inserts and also chooses the colour and flavour of the gummies to be prepared (analogous to step 1 (i) above)

Step 2(ii-a[alpha]) is a preparation step optionally performed by a confectioner or other suitably skilled person where a pre-made gummy mixture is heated in microwave and additives (such as colour, flavour and/or setting agent (e.g. acid)) are added from pre- measured syringes

Step 2(ii-3[beta]) is a gummy making step where the heated gummi mix is deposited into a prepared mould and allowed to set (for up to 30 minutes depending on room temperature).

Step 2(iii) is a collection preparation step where the personalised gummy is demoulded and placed into (optionally personalised) packaging ready for collection by the consumer.

Examples 3 to 10 (see respective Figures 3 to 10)

Other examples (Ex 3 to 10) of the invention are described below and are also shown schematically in respective Figures 3 to 10. These illustrate the flexibility of the personalisation process of the invention which can be used to create a wide range of bespoke product concepts cost effectively and economically.

In Example 3, 4 and 5 the topological shape elements include a "created for you" message match to the name inputted in the order process (shown as 'Sam' in the respective Figures 3, 4 and 5).

Example 6 comprises a personalised topographic element enclosed or embedded with a transparent over-layer (see Figure 6).

Example 7 is prepared by depositing many liquid compositions of different colours in the same mound to create a multi-colour product (see Figure 7). Example 8 is prepared by depositing respectively several differently coloured and flavoured liquid compositions in several individual mould to form a mixture of different gummies, which mixture can be presented together e.g. in a presentation packaging (see Figure 8). In another example (not shown) personalisation can be achieved through flavour alone.

Example 9 the mould elements form shape components which are components of facial features such as noses and mouths to create a unique face (optionally generated from that of the consumer) (see Figure 9).

Example 10 and suitable cutting means (such as a laser cutter or other cutting means under computer control) is used to personalise the pack as well as the product (see Figure 10). The pack personalisation can be achieved by selecting during the ordering step of the process of the invention.