(Milan). The winners of the “Lucio Mastroberardino” 2024 Innovation Challenge were revealed today, the Simei competition (Fiera Milano Rho, November 12-15) dedicated to the most interesting innovations in technology applied to the wine and beverage supply chain. The awards, which will be presented during the inaugural ceremony of the 30th edition of the leading international trade fair for winemaking and bottling machinery (12/11, 11:30 am, conference room Pavilion 2), photograph an increasingly competitive sector (almost 2.5 billion euros in exports and more than 2.1 billion in surplus in the trade balance), innovative and oriented towards the rationalization of work and resources. In the foreground, research on materials and the use of artificial intelligence at the service of increasingly environmentally friendly, sustainable and scalable production based on the variable needs of the market.

Technology Innovation Award

The Technical-Scientific Committee has awarded the Technology Innovation Award to the most promising proposals in the field of technological innovation. They 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 highly concentrated liquids such as the Active Flow by Enomeccanica Bosio or La Semplice by Gamba , a mobile washing system for the internal cleaning of tanks. Added to these are the EVO2-FERM by Parsec , a device for managing nutrition during fermentation, and the Prexa Infinity by Puleo , a pneumatic press with integrated nitrogen production for processing in an inert atmosphere. On the artificial intelligence and data collection front, PE Labellers were awarded for TelescoPE , an AI-based system installed on labelling machines for data collection and processing, and Omnia Technologies for HMI i-Get , a human-machine interface for streamlining production processes.

Green Innovation Award

The solutions awarded with the Green Innovation Award , which this year is particularly lively on the packaging and closure solutions front, stand out for their environmental commitment. Amcor Capsules focuses on aluminum and receives two mentions for STELVIN® Goes Greener , a low carbon footprint screw cap produced with recycled aluminum, and Essentielle , a plastic-free sparkling wine capsule composed mainly of aluminum and then paper. Crealis reverses the equation with another completely plastic-free capsule, which wins the Green Innovation Award for Symbiosis , a capsule made of paper (primary component) and aluminum. Vinventions focuses on plastic, instead, and is mentioned for Nomacorc Ocean , a closure obtained with recycled plastic collected from the oceans. Completing the category are the Recycling Gas System by Bertolaso | Omnia Technologies , a system for recovering technical gases during the bottling phase, and Low Emissions Distillery by Frilli | Omnia Technologies , a low energy consumption steam generator for distilleries.

New Technology

Finally, the New Technology award was given to Cork Supply 's X100 (AI-based technology for measuring oxygen transfer rates in corks), Defranceschi 's Ceramic Barrique Bottoms (used to prevent taste defects due to untoasted barrel bottoms and for induction heating), Foss Italia 's WineScan™ 3 SO ₂ (a rapid, multi-parameter analysis platform), Gai Macchine 's 206 Filling Valve (a filling valve for still food liquids such as wine, water, juices and spirits), HTS Enologia 's AVAFERM® Spark (a tool for managing nutrition and oxygen supply during fermentation); JU.CLA.S. 's AromaLoc® (a system for limiting the loss of aromatic compounds during fermentation), Permeare's Libero beverage and Libero wine | Omnia Technologies (a dealcoholization 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 O ₂ by Vinventions (a connected system for the control and management of oxygen during winemaking) and Win&Fit by Win&Tech | Omnia Technologies (an instrument for the automatic measurement of the filterability index of wines).

With 575 companies and brands on display, more than 30 thousand square meters of exhibition space and foreign delegations from 32 countries, Simei is the leading event for winemaking and bottling machinery. Among the new features for 2024, the partnership with Distillo - a trade fair dedicated to equipment for micro-distilleries that will hold its 3rd edition within Simei -, the first edition of Beer Forum , the “general states” of beer in Italy, and “ L'Oleoteca di Olio Officina ”. To complete the overview on the wine side, Enovitis Business , an “indoor” event dedicated to technologies for growing vineyards which, together with Simei, represents the only international trade fair for the entire wine production chain, from the vine to the bottle.