From ice machines to temperature loggers, we have a look at some of the new products that launched at this year’s Fine Food Australia tradeshow.
Once again, Hospitality magazine had the pleasure of judging the Hospitality Equipment category of Fine Food’s Best New Product Awards. Hospitality’s editor, Danielle Bowling, and her fellow judges spent the entire first day of Fine Food zig-zagging along the show floor, being wowed by the manufacturers of some of the latest and greatest new products to hit the market.
Finalists included OnSolution’s Wireless Temperature Logger and WMF’s very impressive new coffee machine, but the most impressive entrant was Winterhalter, with its PT ClimatePlus warewasher.
You can read all about these new gadgets below, as well as a couple of others that took the judges’ fancy.
 An ice innovation by Delux Foodservice Equipment
Please name your new product.
Delux Foodservice Equipment is the manufacturer and importer of these new to the Australian market ice makers. The machine comprises ice and water dispensers and dual temperature chest freezers with fully welded stainless steel worktops.
Our new release is the new Ice Snow machine that produces up to 200kg of powder snow that can also be flavoured. This adds a new dimension to both beverages as well as food service.
We have produced chocolate, strawberry and pineapple snow, as well as apple snow and even red wine snow. Any flavoured liquid can be processed into snow.
This is a great new way for chefs to serve dishes including sushi, oysters, cold entrees, seafood and any meal that needs to be served cold.
If the new snow machine’s flavoured ice is put into a drink, for example iced tea, there is no flavour lost unlike with regular iced water, which dilutes the flavour of the drink as it melts, spoiling the integrity of the beverage.  Â
What makes the product unique?
The owners of the company are at the coal face with these products ensuring immediate responses to both sales and service enquiries.
Also any decisions that need to be made regarding these products are done so immediately. There are no board meetings.
What benefits will the product deliver to foodservice operators?
Great performance with reliability, producing exactly what the manufacturer claims. Our machines have self diagnostic features that enable the end user to carry out simple service procedures saving hundreds of dollars whilst ensuring the machine operates to its optimal performance level.
What sort of applications/businesses is the product best suited to?
Any food or beverage application. Also, school canteens can now make snow cones with no added sugar or preservatives from all natural juices or dairy products.
Finally, the snow can be kept in a freezer almost eliminating stock loss whilst allowing the operator to build stocks for busy periods.Â
Is it available now?
Yes, we have stock available for immediate delivery. Contact our sales office for your nearest Delux dealer.
Kitchen comfort by Winterhalter
Please name your new product
The Winterhalter PT ClimatePlus machine is a pass-through dishwasher with a new innovative heat pump that creates energy savings and cools the kitchen environment.
The PT Series is the first pass-through on the market to have energy saving heat exchange technology fitted as standard. The ClimatePlus features a radical new heat pump, which not only recycles waste heat from inside the machine but also draws in warm air from the kitchen, using it to heat up the cold water supply.
Thanks to special features and options the PT Series delivers ultra-hygienic cleaning results and in addition saves operating costs.
The variable washing pressure adjustment VarioPower sets the pressure to suit the items being washed and the degree of soiling. In combination with new elliptical wash fields and an innovative full-flow filtration, the new machines guarantee perfect cleaning results.
The pass-through dishwashers of the PT Series are equipped with an active energy management system to optimally distribute the available energy, which reduces the duration of each wash cycle.
The machines of the PT Series are available in four different models. Customers can choose between PT-M, PT-L and PT-XL depending on the space available and the size of the wash items.
What need is it filling in the foodservice market?
As we are all aware, kitchen wash up areas can be very hot and uncomfortable. Washing with PT ClimatePlus reduces the room temperature and the degree of moisture in the air. The machine significantly enhances the working climate within your kitchen, saving energy whilst cooling the direct environment around the machine.
What benefits will the product deliver to foodservice operators?
Large energy savings via the unique heat exchanger and a cooler kitchen environment can impact overall budget and staff morale.
The machine with heat pump lowers the energy consumption, in comparison to a non-heat recovery conventional pass-through warewasher, by up to 53 percent. This saving potential considerably reduces the operating costs.
It also acts as an air conditioner, cooling kitchens when the ambient temperature rises above 25 degrees Celsius.
Energy saving, as well as being good for the environment, obviously translates to cost savings for hospitality providers. Back-of-house staff will also notice the difference in climate, improving working conditions.
What sort of applications/businesses is the product best suited to?
With various sizes and models available in the PT Series and PT Climate Plus, there’s one to suit most commercial kitchens and bars.
Energy conscious operators in particular, along with those who have a high rack throughput and have ventilation and radiant heat issues, will find the latest ClimatePlus washers particularly beneficial.
Is it available now?
The PT Climate Plus is available now from Winterhalter Australia.
Mister Art magic
Please name your new product
Mister Art is a Carpigiani machine that produces gelato and frozen pastry specialties and treats (such as zuccottos, gelato cakes, gelato on a stick and so on). Mister Art is equipped with a pasteurising tank with which you can prepare artisanal mixes using natural ingredients, while the display shows production progress and suggests when to add ingredients. The machine’s freezing cylinder produces gelato continuously: every time gelato is extracted, an equal amount of fresh mix is transferred from the pasteuriser into the cylinder, which, continuing the freezing cycle, is always ready with more product.
What need is it filling in the foodservice market?
Mister Art allows artisans and pastry chefs to boost their creativity, diversify their product range and expand their customer base – key elements in today’s foodservice market.
What makes the product unique?
Mister Art features a continuous artisanal production system. With an upper tank for pasteurising mixes and a cylinder below to freeze gelato, it combines a complete gelato production system in just one machine.
With Mister Art it is simple and fast to make gelato pastry and other specialties. Thanks to specially designed accessories, such as nozzles coming in different shapes and sizes, and a specific freezing program, it is possible to fill treats nonstop, producing a large quantity of products in a short time. For example, filling cannoli, cups, tarts and moulds to produce cakes, make gelato on a stick – often a long, difficult task – becomes quick and easy.
What sort of applications/businesses is the product best suited to?
Mister Art is best suited for pastry shops, gelato shops and horeca businesses that want to expand their product range with gelato pastry, frozen pastry, gelato cakes or gelato on a stick.
Is it available now?
Mister Art is available all over the world through selected Carpigiani distributors.
Rest easy with OnSolution
Please name your new product
Wireless Temperature Logger.
What need is it filling in the foodservice market?
Most hospitality businesses use potentially hazardous foods and they are expected to store and transport them below five degrees Celsius. To prove this, many rely on staff to manually record the temperature. An automated system eliminates the human error and the temptation to cover up problems.
The next major risk is that manually checking temperatures is often too late. If the fridge has failed then the only option is to throw out the food. This is obviously a waste of money, but it also means that the business may be closed while new stock is sourced.
The best solution is to know as soon as a problem starts to occur. With the wireless temperature loggers, notification is sent directly to the business operator’s phone as soon as the problem starts. This gives them plenty of time to react. Often it is a simple matter of closing a door, but it may also require calling in a tradesperson.
What makes the product unique?
Temperature loggers have now been around for many years, and wireless loggers have been available for most of this time, but the price has traditionally been prohibitive for small businesses. These wireless temperature loggers cost the same as a standard temperature logger but with all the benefits of being wireless.
What benefits will the product deliver to foodservice operators?
It will save time – there’s no need to manually record temperatures each day, meaning staff can focus on satisfying the customer.
It will also save money – as soon as a fridge fails the owner can be notified and can fix the problem before stock needs to be thrown out. If the failure is for an extended period the owner has critical information on the duration of the failure by which they can make a good decision on the quality of the food.
Finally, it can save reputations – if there is a failure, the owner’s decision to keep or dispose of food directly impacts on the quality of the service they provide.
What sort of businesses is the product best suited to?
Any business that has fridges or freezers through the entire supply chain, including restaurants, cafs or caterers.
Is it available now?
It is available now. Distributors can be found on our website, or it can be purchased online.
A coffee machine with a mind of its own
Please name and describe your new product
The WMF Espresso is the new hybrid espresso system from WMF (Germany) that combines the traditional group handle espresso machine with super automated technologies. While the operator still uses a portafilter, the grind, dose and tamp function is done automatically and internally by the machine to create consistently excellent espresso. Add to this the technology of temperature control, steam/air mixing and self vortexing through the steam wand, to guarantee a perfectly finished coffee.
What current need is it filling in the foodservice market?
Coffee has become one of the staples of Australian foodservice, and as the market has grown so too has the tastes of a discerning consumer. Average coffee service is no longer an option and consumers have a pre-conception that automated coffee machines are somehow inferior. Furthermore, costs in training and staff retention have increased rapidly. The Espresso allows the operator to hire whoever they like and severely reduce training costs while serving consistent quality coffee. It achieves this by looking like a traditional espresso machine, but having those automated technologies hidden inside it. By looking the part, the ‘theatre’ element of the barista stays intact. In fact all the operator is doing now is removing the portafilter and knocking out the spent coffee puck, and pouring the milk into the cup.
What makes the product unique?
It is the only true hybrid on the market. It controls and automates all the key parameters of espresso preparation. It grinds, doses and tamps the coffee automatically for an even quality extraction. It also achieves a quality extraction by overcoming the thermal stability issue that is rife within the automatic coffee machine industry. Within a complicated moving environment it is difficult to control and maintain a stable temperature, but with the Espresso the extraction occurs in a sealed portafilter made of brass, the quality of extraction is unprecedented in the automation segment.Â
What benefits will the product deliver to foodservice operators?
- Reduced training costs. The Espresso reduces training significantly. The grind, dose and tamp process is still the part of espresso preparation that requires significant training, and if done incorrectly has a huge impact on quality. Secondly the automated milk steam wand.Â
- A more consistent quality coffee. The system is self-aware and monitoring every cup it produces. If there is a requirement for major change it will alert the operator and visually instruct them on how to do so.
- Increased output of product. By automating the process it reduces the average time of preparing a coffee by up to 15 seconds. This allows more coffees to be served during busy periods, which equals more revenue and happier customers.
What sort of applications/businesses is the product best suited to?
Any environment that an espresso service is required: cafes, hotels, high-end restaurants, clubs and more.
Is it available now?
Available now, from a network of certified WMF sales agents in Australia and New Zealand.
