The Umbria-based Ho.Re.Ca company CIAM has always gone beyond the traditional idea of design, which it sees not in the traditional sense of merely adding aesthetic value, but as something that creates useful “work tools” suited to their time and to the purpose they are to serve. And in the past few months it has been working on a new kind of display cabinet, which presents items on flat trays, rather than in a vertically stacked arrangement to improve the user experience of all items (fresh pastries, single-portion desserts, macarons, gelato and so on). These horizontal display units, with their stylish minimal design, can easily become part of any interior setting , and are also made of materials that can readily be customised. Choices available include everything from polished steel (which comes as standard) to optional extras like stoneware, acrylic, composite quartz, HPL, marble, natural stone, brass, epoxy powder coatings and coated or galvanised steel.

Design is a major focus also for IFI, a concern based in the Marche region that has won two ADI Compasso d’Oro awards (in 2014 and 2018) and last year launched onto the market a stylistically advanced refrigerated cabinet, this time with the help of one of the brand’s well-established collaborators, Japanese designer Makio Hasuike and his studio. The resulting display case presents no visual barriers, and the generous window and illumination involving three rows of LEDs create a kind of “floating” effect that is an ideal display method for gelato and pastries. The firm lists no fewer than six features that make the unit unique: the extreme visibility given to the products; the excellent level of preservation; elegant styling that will enhance any context it is used in; absolute hygiene thanks to the perfectly insulated sliding doors; ease of maintenance; and attention to energy saving. This latter aspect is also to be found on the other new product IFI brought out in 2020, a vertical chilled display cabinet, described by its designer Giulio Iacchetti as a “glass tower that gives all-round visibility to the gelato, pastry and praline creations inside”. It is easy to see why: there are heated double-chamber windows on all four sides, it has an extremely high-performance refrigeration system, and the interior temperature is rapidly restored after each opening of the door.