A prize that sets out to redesign the hospitality of the future: the Smart Label, Host Innovation Awards are allocated by HostMilano in collaboration with POLI.design, with the support of ADI (the Italian Industrial Design Association). This internationally recognised award scheme held its fifth edition in 2021.

Four Innovation SMART Labels, six Green SMART Labels and 15 Host Innovation Award Smart Labels were given out last October. We asked some of the companies who received the award for some feedback, and today our attention turns to the future of coffee.

“The Smart Label is always a coveted award for anyone who, like us, combines advanced technological functions with state-of-the-art design,” says Giovanni Giaquinta, marketing director of Dalla Corte. “Our aim, in other words, is to combine functionality with aesthetic appeal, especially when we are launching a new flagship product, in this case the professional espresso machine Zero, at a major trade fair like HostMilano.”

What does the award-winning product offer that enables it to cater to today’s needs? “The person operating the machine wants to be able to control the coffee extraction process: coffee is getting more refined and sophisticated with various niche kinds appearing, so extracting the coffee using a technology that controls important parameters like temperature and flow throughout the process is fundamental. Coffee lovers know what a long process it is to get coffee from the plantation into the cup, and the final extraction stage must respect the coffee bean’s long journey so that the person who is going to drink it gets the very best aromatic experience.”

In 2021 Dalla Corte obtained its second Smart Label, following the award made in 2017 for its Mina machine.

Carimali was awarded the Smart Label, Host Innovation Award 2021 for the technology it developed and later defined and applied to the new Heylo brand, which “instantly attracted a great deal of interest on the market.”

“In the past few months we have been working on our first espresso making machine to apply induction technology, and we are sure there will be positive comments and feedback on it from our clients and stakeholders,” said Diana Zuluaga, marketing specialist with Heylo.

As for the advantages: “We are committed to supporting the process of applying sustainability in the coffee machine sector. We happen to be launching induction technology on our first espresso machine, but the idea is that we can then extend that technology to a range of products, thus allowing our users to reduce to a minimum the consumption of electricity and give them a ‘guilt-free’ coffee-drinking experience.”