'Technological creativity and innovation are the pillars, on which the Innovation Challenge SIMEI “Lucio Mastroberardino” is founded.'
This award was established by Unione Italiana Vini to offer recognition to the innovations in the enological and bottling field, which can be useful for encouraging new ideas and bring the sector to higher and higher levels. As shown by the technological solutions that entered the contest and especially by the award-winning ones, Italian technology once again proved to be up to its leading role in the innovation of the wine-making sector”.
This is how Paolo Castelletti, Secretary-General of Unione Italiana Vini (UIV), commented the results of the selections for the Innovation Challenge SIMEI “Lucio Mastroberardino”, whose prize-giving ceremony will take place during SIMEI, the most important exhibition for enology and bottling techniques that will be held from 11 to 15 September 2017 in Munich, in strategic partnership with drinktec, world leader trade show in the field of liquid food and beverage.
It was possible to enter the Innovation Challenge “Lucio Mastroberardino” for all exhibitors, registered for SIMEI 2017, having a system, a machine or a product considered as state-of-the-art for the sector and capable of contributing to the development of the segments related to the vineyard-winery and beverage production chain.The technologies in the contest were evaluated by a Technical Scientific Committee, composed of authoritative experts belonging to the enological and to the viticultural world, to the scientific community. It also included some member-wineries of UIV, which announced the winners some days ago.
The prestigious “Technological Innovation Award SIMEI 2017”, a "special mention" for the projects that are considered as the outcome of a great scientific competence, combined with field experiences - but especially as the fruit of genial minds, able to work "outside the box" and create knowledge synergies - was given to the Bottle Sorting Machine by GAI S.p.A., and to the Optimised-Weight Level Bottling Plant by GRUPPO BERTOLASO S.p.A..
"This recognition is really important for our company, taking into account that our product is the only award-winning one in the sector of bottling lines. Our bottle sorting machine is upstream in the process, preceding the bottling phase - commented the engineer Guglielmo Gai. Developed by our R&D department, in synergy with some customers, who asked for our help in solving some practical problems in their production process, our bottle sorting machine is the fruit of a demanding, but really exciting and rewarding work. This award encourages us to continue on the path of technological research, which has always been our philosophy."
"We are really proud to be able to compete with the big players and offer innovative and interesting solutions. Every year, Gruppo Bertolaso invests a large amount of its income to study and propose solutions in the market that may provide our clients with replies not only to the questions of today, but also to the queries of tomorrow - stated Cristina Bertolaso. In this view, the Award is part of a development process, which Gruppo Bertolaso undertook across-the-board for all its machines, in order to offer its customers not only productivity and quality, but also innovation and replies to the documentary and traceability needs that arise in each enterprise every day". Moreover, four companies have won the “New Technology SIMEI 2017”, dedicated to projects which imply such process and product innovations that, as a result, significant improvements in wine production and preservation may be expected. The winners were: AMORIM CORK ITALIA S.p.A. UNIPERSONALE with Ndtech, a technology of individual quality control for a quick industrial-scale analysis of corks; GARBELLOTTO with Precision Casks & Barriques, manufactured with DTS-digital-control toasting; LALLEMAND GMBH with Malotabs, selected Oenococcus oeni active bacteria in tablet format for a safe and simple inoculation with a highly active bacterial culture; VELO ACCIAI with Unico, a multi-phase, tangential filtration system for heterogeneous blends of different food matrices.
“It is a recognition attesting how years of investments in research and development were able to produce something unique in the world" – commented Carlos Veloso dos Santos of Amorim.
Piero Garbellotto, owner of the company Garbellotto S.p.A. is thinking along the same lines: "We acknowledge that technology is the means and research is an absolute value to achieve the preset targets and meet the increasingly more precise customers' needs".
Jacopo Velo of Velo Acciai stressed the importance of investing in technological creativity: "This recognition rewards not only our company, but also our courage to invest in research and innovation. Today it is necessary to go above and beyond to be able to compete in the international markets".
"We would like to congratulate UIV and the other award-winners of the Innovation Challenge contest - concluded Patrick Ramette, General Manager of Lallemand Oenology - for this important contribution to the progress in the field of wine production and we are proud to have played our part".
The prize-giving ceremony will take place in the Hall C2 during SIMEI@drinktec at Messe München in Munich on 12 September at 5.00pm.
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