This year, HOST, the trade fair for hospitality professionals, taking place in Milan, October 23-27, will highlight some of the most innovative concepts for professional cooking equipment.
The food and beverage industry is a fast-changing one, and in recent years, which have witnessed an economic downturn and changes in lifestyles, it has been transformed still further, with the new sophisticated, ultra-connected and well-informed out-of-home clients demanding an increasingly high level of service.
And to keep up with the times it is clear that technological innovation in equipment is central, as confirmed by Unox: “35 people work on this in our Research & Development division, a number that rises to 60 if we include those employed in all the relevant support activities. If the new technologies we are introducing are to make a real difference, they must respond to actual customer demands and this is the approach we adopt on all our products. The shift in the market towards the big chains means that we are dealing with a quite different kind of tradesperson than we would find in, say, a family-run restaurant.”
Gemos, for example, is a cooperative that has been operating in the communal catering business for over 40 years, and thanks to its Rational ovens it has managed to reduce the cooking times, consumption and weight of the products it makes. “Providing reliable, technologically advanced equipment is essential if we are to do our work to the best of our abilities and turn out a high-quality product,” explains the head of production Sante Pezzi.
The trend towards catering chains is one that the American multi-national Taylor has also had to adapt to: “From our viewpoint the trend we are seeing in the world, and that includes Italy, is towards a constant expansion of franchising outlets,” says Giovanni Giammetta, CEO of Taylor Srl. “Our typical client, also in cold foods, is a chain with at least 5-10 establishments that demands maximum ease of use and reliability in the rapid supply of a uniformly high standard of service: our soft ice-cream making machines can serve up 550 120-gram cones an hour, which is more than nine a minute, while the grills can cook between eight and twelve hamburgers in just 90 seconds.”
Technology really can change the ways in which work is done, says Marco Ferroni, general manager of Lainox (Ali Group), the firm that pioneered the new generation of Naboo smart ovens: “Our ambition is to create a new standard in the field of combined ovens. Until now, these appliances have been simple steel boxes, with a bit of technology inside them. Now these boxes are turning into complete systems that share information and knowledge with an international community of chefs. It is the 2.0 kitchen, a big help in keeping up to date, getting new stimuli for our work and giving us more time to devote to our customers.”
This “new catering” approach demands that professionals keep up to date with the very latest developments, to enable them to manage quality products and ingredients in the very best way. For this reason cash & carry multinational Metro, will be bringing to Host2015 Metro Academy: a new idea for the Ho.Re.Ca sector structured like a “plaza” in which it will be possible to share ideas at cooking and cocktail sessions, but also with interesting management and marketing courses for professionals.