Tradition Meets Innovation: How Candy Sugar Elevates Modern Bakery Creations While Supporting Clean-Label Trends
For more than 500 years, our candy sugar has brought authentic flavour and texture to sweet creations. Today, it continues to play a vital role in modern bakery applications— delivering authentic caramel notes, clean-label simplicity, and consistency—while aligning with consumer expectations for transparency and innovation.
Balancing Heritage and Modern Expectations
Our Candy sugar’s legacy is inseparable from Belgium’s sugar heritage. Candico, a brand of Raffinerie Tirlemontoise, part of the Südzucker Sugar Division, preserves a lineage of craftsmanship dating back to the early 16th century. Originating in Antwerp, the historic entry port for sugar into Europe since 1508, Candico’s story mirrors the very origins of candy sugar. In 1935, several Antwerp refiners merged to form Candico; over time, production shifted from cane to beet sugar, and in 1969 Candico joined Südzucker through Tiense Suikerrafinaderij.
From Ship to Crystal: The Historical Production Process
Traditionally, crude sugar arriving in Antwerp required careful purification for consumption. The traditional process involved:
- Heating and dissolving sugar into a concentrated syrup
- Slow cooling to encourage crystal formation
- Harvesting and sorting the resulting crystals by size
The outcome was a sugar with enhanced flavour and texture, refined over centuries.
Today, this heritage is preserved in modern, food-safe factory processes. The product’s unique taste and texture come solely from this production method – made from 100% sugar, with no additives, flavours, or colourings.
Controlled Caramelization Makes Candy Sugar Special in Baking
Candy sugars deliver a delicate, rounded caramel sweetness that opens up creative possibilities for bakers. While the core production has remained consistent for centuries, it has been continually adapted to meet today’s food safety standards. Taste and colour are naturally developed through the production process itself – typically through controlled caramelisation and crystallisation – rather than through added flavourings or colourants. The controlled caramelization process gives candy sugar a depth of flavour that other sugars can’t match. This means candy sugars can deliver the rich sweetness, depth, and golden hue consumers love, all while supporting shorter ingredient lists and a cleaner label.
In bakery applications, candy sugar enhances flavours without overpowering other notes—similar to vanilla. It pairs beautifully with doughs, fillings, and even savoury elements, creating balance and complexity.
Candy Sugar’s Versatile Applications for Bakers
- Decoration: Candy sugar crystals add crunch and visual appeal to pastries and breads.
- Dough & Fillings: Candy powder or syrup brings a warm golden colour and caramelized sweetness.
- Flavour Balance: Ideal for reducing acidity and creating indulgent, layered taste profiles.
Clean Label – A Key Driver in Bakery Trends
According to Südzucker’s Consumer Study 2025, 75% of consumers consider “without additives” essential when evaluating sweet goods. Candy sugar meets this expectation perfectly: its colour and flavour develop naturally during production—no additives, no hidden ingredients. This allows bakeries to offer products that combine indulgence with transparency, strengthening trust and meeting clean-label standards.
Different Formats for Consistent Results
Candy sugar is available as crystals, powders, and syrups—each tailored for specific bakery needs. For example, candy powder ensures even colour distribution in dough, resulting in a beautiful golden crust after baking.
