The National Restaurant Association today announced the recipients of its prestigious 2010 Kitchen Innovations (KI) Award, which recognizes the most groundbreaking equipment on the global foodservice market as selected by an independent panel of experts. This year’s award winners will provide restaurant and foodservice operators with new solutions to serve their guests the highest quality meals and service while increasing productivity, safety, cost-efficiency, and environmental sustainability.
All the KI products will be showcased in an interactive demonstration area at the 2010 National Restaurant Association Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show at Chicago’s McCormick Place, May 22-25.
“Each member of our panel of judges has the hands-on experience to recognize true innovation, which is what makes our KI program so exciting," says Ira Cohn, Convention Chair for the NRA Show 2010 and president of ARAMARK Business and Industry Group. "These products will make restaurants run faster, smoother, and more efficiently, which will result in better customer service and higher quality food. Selecting the right equipment for a restaurant kitchen is crucial to creating and serving safe, nutritious, and delicious meals.”
The 2010 Kitchen Innovations Award recipients are:
Activeion Cleaning Solutions, LLC – The ionator EXP
A hand-held, on-demand power cleaner that converts tap water into ionized water — a powerful dirt-removing, bacteria-killing agent. When used as directed, the ionator EXP kills 99.999 percent of harmful bacteria without the use of toxic chemicals.
Alto-Shaam, Inc.- The Alto-Shaam CombiTouch
An intuitive pictorial and video graphic touch screen control. CombiTouch commands all the basic and advanced cooking functions for 250 standard and customized recipes and training, without operators having to read text.
Champion Industries – E2series Flight with Quad Rinse
A unique linkage between the conveyor and the water flow control conserves water and energy use, as hot water input is reduced proportionately, when the speed of the conveyor is slowed.
Champion Industries – Heat Recovery Unit with Temp-Sure system
This innovation eliminates the need to pre-heat the final rinse water, to conserve energy, while the temp-sure system continually monitors outlet temperature and adjusts airflow to maintain the proper rinse temperature.
Ecolab- Scrub N Go – Cordless Floor Scrubber
This compact scrubber replaces the daily mop and bucket. It cleans, scrubs, vacuums, and dries, all in one pass. With its rapid-recharge lithium battery, Scrub N Go scrubs at 1,045 revolutions per minute, and the powerful vacuum leaves floors virtually dry and safe.
Henny Penny Corporation – iControl for Evolution Elite
The Gas Evolution Elite Open Fryer now offers the new iControl, which monitors all fryer activity. iControl provides the operator with data to improve oil usage, meet product quality standards, and continuously optimize frying operations.
Hobart Corporation – Ventless AM Warewasher
The Hobart AM Ventless eliminates the need for purchase and installation of a hood. It's the first ventless door-type that recaptures water vapor, and condenses it, to heat the incoming cold water inlet for the final rinse cycle.
Irinox USA, LLC – Multi Fresh Blast Chillers
Multi Fresh brings it all together – blast chill, shock freeze, rapid thaw, and proofing – controlled by its Dynamic Fresh System, which allows you to cook, hold, and serve optimal food freshness to the table.
Manitowoc Beverage Systems/Manitowoc Foodservice – TRUfill Beverage Dispensing System
This unique system dispenses beverages, most notably draft beer, in 84 percent less server time. It delivers the "perfect pour" via a nozzle that engages through a one-way resealable valve in the bottom of the cup.
Merrychef/Manitowoc Foodservice – eikon Accelerated Cooking Oven
The new eikon series of speed ovens, offer an icon-driven touch screen operation enabling instant menu management with archive capacity, ethernet updates, operator training, and service maintenance instructions.
Middleby Corp. – Middleby Marshall Mini WOW Oven
This high speed conveyor oven with the Middleby Marshall patented energy-eye and motor sleep mode technology automatically powers down between uses and saves 30 percent in energy compared to prior models.
Middleby Corp. – Southbend Ultimate Range
The Ultimate Range is completely configurable to customers' needs. Design your own range, using its dedicated Web site, offering an array of options like gas tops with electric ovens, front sauté burners with high output back burners, and many more.
Multiplex/Manitowoc Foodservice – Blend In Cup Smoothie Machine
This small footprint, refrigerated Blend In Cup machine produces a wide range of quality smoothies and dairy-based beverages. All ingredients are on board, including the ice machine, and its touch screen allows operators to manage inventory and operational procedures.
Oliver Packaging & Equipment Company – Mini Chip Slicer
This counter top slicer is designed to safely and efficiently create healthy snack chips from day old bakery … bagels, baguettes, and buns. The blade frame guard makes cleaning safe. Easily replace blade cartridge: no service call required.
Perfect Fry Company – Spin Fresh Centrifugal Fryer
Perfect Fry's counter top fryer uses Spin Fresh technology with a built in spinner basket. After cooking it spins off the excess oil during a finishing convection cooking step to provide reduced calories and enhanced taste experience.
Vegawatt – Vegawatt Cogeneration System
Vegawatt is a fully automated and work-flow integrated energy cogeneration (CHP) system that generates on-site electricity and hot water for foodservice operations by using the waste vegetable oil from the fryers as a fuel source.
All Kitchen Innovations Award applicants were judged by an independent, expert panel of industry leaders consisting of Dan Bendall (principal, FoodStrategy, Inc.); Martin Cowley (senior manager design and standards, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts); William Eaton (chairman of the board, Cini-Little International); Robert Forrester (principal, Restaurant Industry Solutions); Foster F. Frable Jr. (founding partner, Clevenger Frable LaValee); Aaron LaMotte (director, Sodexo Performance Interiors); Robert Marshall (vice president, U.S. operations, McDonald's Corp.); George McNeill (vice president, culinary and corporate chef, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC); and Kathleen H. Seelye (managing partner, Ricca Newmark Design).
