Americas:
2018 FCSI The Americas Conference
The FCSI The Americas Product of the Year winner at the conference’s Innovation Showcase in Denver was the Eliminator from Gaylord, which was praised for its evolutionary design, high- efficiency and advanced technology.
“We are so proud to have the Eliminator recognised as the FCSI The Americas Product of the Year,” said Keven Hass, national sales manager for Gaylord Industries. “There is no greater compliment than that which comes from your peers and we want to say thank you to all the consultants who reviewed our wonderful innovation at the event.”
A shortlist of 10 products were exhibited at the conference in Denver for professional members to vote on.
NRA Show 2018
At the 2018 National Restaurant Association, Restaurant Hotel Motel Show in Chicago, US, on 19-22 May, the Kitchen Innovation (KI) Awards took centre stage. The 2018 KI Award recipients reflect the trends and topics most important to foodservice operators today. The 22 selected innovations address operator concerns from labour, energy and water efficiency to food safety, sanitation, cross-functionality and space-saving. The winners were:
- Air Oasis Bi-Polar Ice BPi200
- Alto-Shaam, Inc., in conjunction with Appliance Innovation VectorTM F Series Multi-Cook Oven
- Antunes GST-1H Flatbread Toaster
- Astra Peel-a-ton
- Bizerba North America GSP H & HD Illuminated Safety Slicers, Manual, Semi-Automatic & Fully-Automatic Operation
- Evo, Inc. MultiZone™ Plancha
- Flat® Tech Inc. FLAT® Equalizers
- Garland, a Welbilt Brand Instinct™ Induction Countertop Line
- Genius Pan, LLC Genius Pan
- Hoshizaki America KMEdge Ice Machine Series
- Markov Level RF Oven
- Marra Forni Electric Brick Oven with Open Mouth
- Marra Forni Rotator Deck Brick Oven with Double Mouth Opening
- Multiplex®, a Welbilt Brand FreshBlender™
- Omni-Rinse Integrated Rinsing System
- Prince Castle Modular Holding Bin
- Sealed Air Corporation Cryovac® FlexPrep™ EZ Dispensing
- Soda Gun Jetter LLC Soda Gun Jetter
- Structural Concepts Corporation Foodscaping Wells
- Structural Concepts Corporation Reveal Frameless Glass Food Displays
- Vitamix Aerating Container
- Vulcan SonicSafe™ Ultrasonic Scale Prevention for Steamers
This year’s judges for the 2018 KI Awards at the Show included Dan Bendall, principal, FoodStrategy, Inc.; David Chislett FCSI, executive principal, Ricca Design Studios; Jeff Cook, chief engineer, Restaurant Solutions Group, McDonald’s Corporation; Richard Eisenbarth FCSI, president/COO, Cini-Little International; Foster F. Frable Jr. FCSI associate AIA, president, Clevenger Frable LaVallee; Randy Homer, program manager, Food & Beverage Operations Asset Management, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; Jim Krueger, Jr., CMCE, NRAMF, chief, Air Force Food & Beverage Policy, Procedures, Business Development & Strategic Initiatives Air Force Services Activity (AFSVA) Food & Beverage Branch; Aaron Lamotte, senior director, Performance Interiors, Sodexo Performance Interiors, and Steve Otto, director, Capital Equipment Purchasing, Darden.
Asia Pacific:
Food&HotelAsia (FHA) 2018
During FHA 2018, “Asia’s most established trade platform for the food and hospitality industry”, in Singapore in April 2018 the FCSI Asia Pacific’s Innovation Award Winners were:
Heavy Equipment Category:
Gold: Granuldisk
Silver: Adande
Bronze: MKN and Rational (joint winners)
Light Equipment Category:
Gold: Meiko
Silver: Zerica SRL
Bronze: Offcar
Fine Food Australia
Fine Food Australia’s four-day event in September 2018 in Melbourne featured a ceremony for Best New Product Awards. Five winners were selected from 400 entries, from Australia and further afield. The awards celebrate innovative new designs in various sectors:
Best New Hospitality Equipment Product: ShowLab from Florentia
Runners up: UC-M I Excellence from Winterhalter; ActiveCore TIME1000-A from SKOPE Industries Ltd
Best New Bakery Product: Professional Blast Chillers from La Nuovagel
Runners up: Salva Iverpan FCX20 Retarder from Vanrooy
Machinery; Softgrain Sprouted Rye from Puratos Australia New Zealand
Europe, Africa and Middle East:
Intergastra 2018
This year’s trade fair in Stuttgart, Germany, in March 2018 celebrated seminal new ideas in the restaurant and hotel industry with the Innovation Prize. Judges take account of various criteria, including the degree of innovation and importance for practical application, economically justifiable expense in use and implementation, design, functionality and user-friendliness. Innovation prize winners included:
Quality Assurance and Economy: Flowtify
Design and Function: Pure from Echtermann
IT Solutions: Code2order
Kitchen Technology: Connected Cooking
Hotelympia 2018
The World Food Innovation Awards were announced at Hotelympia (to be rebranded HRC in 2020) in London in March 2018. The winners were:
Best tech innovation: The Smoothie Station from Alberts
Best foodservice/catering product: GenerationJuice dispenser from GenerationJuice
Internorga 2018
Winners of the Internorga Future Prize at the Internorga show in Hamburg, Germany, in March 2018 included:
Trendsetter product – Fittings and Equipment winner: °Check from Rieber GmbH
Trendsetter Gastronomy & hotel business: e*lounge from Esprit
Trendsetter product – Food & Beverages: natural food colorant from Colourfood Professional
GulfHost 2018
At the second GulfHost show in Dubai, UAE, in October 2018, innovative products featured prominently. The 2018 GulfHost Innovation Award winners were:
Smartest Innovation: Wulroti International from Puracycle 500-use Label
Best Quick Serve Innovation: Muddle Me from The Control Freak
Best Display Innovation: Josef Höller GmbH from Cold/Hot Well
Best Coffee Innovation: BSEC Electronics from BREWVIE
Commercial Kitchen 2018
At the 2018 Commercial Kitchen show in Birmingham, UK, the Innovation Challenge Award winners, whose judges included FCSI members, were:
Gold: Adande Aircell Grab and Go, Carpigiani Freeze&Go, Synergy Grill Mark 2 from Synergy, Trak Hot and Cold Display Unit, EVEREO by Unox UK
Silver: FilterShield FS1500 from Environmental Products and Services General Catering ROG Grill
Bronze: Retigo Hold-O-Mat, Shepherd Filters from Shepherd Filters UK, Target Bespoke Induction Range from Target Catering Equipment
The Restaurant Show 2018
This year at The Restaurant Show, the product awards, part of the Catering Equipment Expo, were broken down into the products most suitable for starts, mains, buffet, dessert and drinks. The Great New Idea Award also recognised outstanding innovations.
Starters: Crème Jouet Bowls
Buffet: Churchill Lotus
Main course: Steelite Craft
Dessert: Artisan Trevone
Drinks: Arcoroc Hiball Cans
Great New Idea Award: Bottle Glass to Sand
CESA Conference 2018
The 2018 CESA Conference in November 2018 saw record attendance and a programme packed with insight. At a gala dinner following the conference the FCSI-judged Equipment Award winner was Marco Beverage Systems for the MIX UC8 Boiler with three button front. The judges also highly commended Mechline Developments for the BaSix 300/400 hands-free push-front wash basin and Target Catering equipment for the TR+E induction range.
