The 2024 SIMEI exhibition is set to begin next week, spanning 12-15 November in Milan. Image courtesy SIMEI
Winners of the 2024 “Lucio Mastroberardino” Innovation Challenge were announced yesterday, revealing an ever more competitive and innovative sector oriented towards the rationalisation of work and resources. The challenge, which is a competition run by SIMEI, concentrates on interesting innovations in technology applied to the wine and beverage supply chain.
In particular focus, was research into materials and the use of artificial intelligence which serves for production that is increasingly sustainable and adaptable to the varying needs of the market.
Technology Innovation Award
The Technical-Scientific Committee awarded the title of Technology Innovation Award to the most promising proposals in the field of technological innovation. The award-winning entries range from a filter with a low carbon footprint for the treatment of wine and lees—the Flavy X-Treme 3 in 1 by Bucher Vaslin, to an automatic system for the filtration of high concentration liquids—the Active Flow by Enomeccanica Bosio, and La Semplice by Gamba—a mobile washing system for the internal cleaning of tanks. There was also Parsec’s EVO2-FERM, a device for managing nutrition during fermentation, and Puleo’s Prexa Infinity, a pneumatic press with integrated nitrogen production for processing in an inert atmosphere. At the forefront of artificial intelligence and data collection, P.E. Labellers was given an award for the TelescoPE, a system installed on AI-based labellers for data collection and processing, and Omnia Technologies for its HMI i-Get, a human-machine interface for improving the efficiency of production processes.
Green Innovation Award
The solutions awarded with the Green Innovation Award stand out for their environmental commitment, which were particularly lively on the packaging and closure solutions front this year. Amcor Capsules, which focuses on aluminium, received two mentions for STELVIN® Goes Greener, its low carbon footprint screw cap made with recycled aluminium, and Essentielle, a plastic-free sparkling wine cap composed of aluminium and paper. Another completely plastic-free capsule created by Crealis won the Green Innovation Award: Symbiosis—a capsule made predominantly of paper, and aluminium. In contrast, Vinventions, which focuses on plastic, received a mention for its Nomacorc Ocean closure, which is made with recycled plastic collected from the oceans. The category was concluded with the Recycling Gas System, Bertolaso by Omnia Technologies—a technical gas recovery system for the bottling phase, and the Low Emissions Distillery by Frilli, Omnia Technologies—a steam generator for low-energy distilleries.
New Technology
Finally, the New Technology award was given to Cork Supply’s X100 (an AI-based technology for measuring the rate of oxygen transfer in stoppers); Defranceschi’s ceramic Barrique Bottoms (used to prevent taste defects due to untoasted bottoms and heat by induction); FOSS Italia’s WineScan™ 3 SO2 (a rapid and multi-parameter analysis platform); the Filling valve 206 by Gai Machines (a filling valve for still liquid foods such as wine, water, juices and liqueurs); AVAFERM ® Spark by HTS Enologia (a tool for the management of nutrition and oxygen supply in fermentation); AromaLoc® by JU.CLA.S. (a system for limiting the loss of aromatic compounds during fermentation); Libero beverage and Libero wine by Permeare – Omnia Technologies (a de-alcoholisation system with semi-permeable membranes); Heli-X ® by PMH Vinicole (a must pump with low impact on grape integrity); ALcryo Vortex 10 by Siprem International (a continuous cooling system for crushed and destemmed grapes); WQS Nomasense O2 by Vinventions (a connected oxygen control and management system during winemaking), and Win&Fit by Win&Tech – Omnia Technologies (a tool for the automatic measurement of the wine filterability index).
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