Will an android serve us coffee in a cafeteria? In the future, it is possible. For now, it is still our barista, but supported by increasingly smart technologies. From robotics to AI, from the Internet of Things to touchscreen interfaces and remote controls, today coffee machines are ‘spaceships’ that free the operator from routine to make room for creativity.

It’s a world market $12.63 billion this year, poised to raise to $14 billion by 2028 (data by Statista), and whose key players – Italian and international – will all be at Host 2025, at fieramilano in Milan-Rho from 17 to 21 October.

From the U.S. comes Bunn-o-matic: “Wi-Fi and smart features such as apps and touch-screens are integrated into the machines, while AI optimizes brewing through algorithms that analyze bean quality, water temperature, and extraction time for the best in-cup result. Robotics? Soon it may be used to serve customers,” comments Nuno Sequeira, Regional Sales Manager Europe.

From Italy, Claudio Torresan, Regional Sales Director Italy of Cimbali Group, adds, “Coffee is increasingly consumed in places other than the bar: at the hairdresser’s, in the gym, in hotels. In these contexts, which do not have a specialized figure, operators need solutions to prepare coffee without help, such as super automatic machines. As to Italy, it is also welcoming alternative brewing, Anglo-Saxon-derived extraction methods such as filter coffee or chemex coffee.”

“For Sanremo, the use of technology must always find the perfect combination with the human factor and the added value it brings to the product; all the machines are in fact ‘hand-crafted,’ and we are proud of that. Where we use more technology is directly in the R&D part, where robotics help us and test and stress well beyond the design limits the components we make," concludes Danilo Llopis, R&D Manager of Sanremo.

At Host 2025, innovation in the bar will also be in the spotlight in a busy calendar of events.