Kitchen Innovations Awards

Origin™ Convection Ovens

Imagine an oven that cooks large quantities of food to perfection while freeing up valuable time. Alto-Shaam's Origin™ convection ovens do just that. Thanks to the patented Structured Air Technology™, Origin ensures every dish is consistently cooked using high-velocity, vertical airflow. Say goodbye to food waste and constant oven monitoring. Welcome efficiency and reliability into your kitchen. Alto-Shaam Origin ovens are the key to exceptional, worry-free cooking.

BuffetBoost™ Warming Block

This compact, wireless heat source helps operators keep any flat-bottomed, heat-conductive container of food at safe temperatures. Its aluminum surface heats up to 190°F in just seven minutes. Choose to power up by AC adapter (included) or by battery (sold separately) for portable convenience. The battery charges in less than two hours yet keeps hot food warm for over three hours. The unit pairs with others for larger food vessels, and can pair with compatible holders, available in a variety of finishes, to integrate into any buffet presentation.

Automated Fresh Brew: SimpliciTea 1500

A Fresh Tea Revolution has arrived! Historically, fresh brewed iced tea was a demanding menu offering. With tea beginning to degrade as soon as the brew process is complete, many operators struggle to maintain tea quality without continuously discarding and re-brewing. The SimpliciTea 1500 simplifies and vastly increases the profitability of fresh brewed tea. This proprietary storage and dispense technology keeps tea fresh and eliminates tea and sugar waste. It automatically brews fresh tea – so operators will no longer run out during peak demand. A simple touch-screen interface allows customers to choose their perfect sweetness level and add flavors to further customize their fresh tea. Manual cleaning is also a thing of the past as the SimpliciTea1500 is equipped with fully automated self-cleaning.

Chillstream™ Undercounter Frozen Food Dispenser

Chillstream™ redefines frozen food dispensing with a space-saving, horizontal design, perfect for countertop and floor model cooking equipment. Unlike traditional vertical dispensers that take up valuable space, especially in compact or high-traffic kitchens, it enhances efficiency without compromising performance. Chillstream™ dispenses up to five different frozen products, including fries, chicken nuggets, and mozzarella sticks, with front or side-exit dispensing. It ensures consistent portions, reduced waste, improved food quality, and a more organized, streamlined kitchen workflow.

OMM Automated Egg Cooker

From coffee shops to hotels, QSRs to full-service restaurants, operators want to serve high-quality eggs but struggle with space, labor, quality, and consistency. Enter OMM. Simply load up to 36 eggs into this compact, countertop cooker and touch a screen. About three "hands-free" minutes later, out come perfectly cooked, sunny-side-up eggs, in pairs, on a convenient peel. Now any operator can serve fresh, high-quality eggs with ease.

CHrisper Station

The Carter-Hoffmann CHrisper Station is crafted to expertly hold fried chicken and other crispy foods, maintaining high product quality. Engineered with an advanced heat duct system, hot convection air and radiant heat airflow enable double the standard holding time, reducing food waste. Our patent-pending dual-door design features two flip-up doors per side allowing easy pass-through, improving food retrieval and enhancing workflow efficiency. The CHrisper Station isn’t just another holding cabinet – it’s the most efficient solution available that boosts overall guest satisfaction, improves workflow efficiency and reduces food waste.

RoboFry X4

Industrial-style robot arms may be fun to watch but don’t fit every operator’s tight space, budgets and service times. The compact RoboFry X4 retrofits to any fryer and hood and uses two slim, vertical basket handlers that fill, place and dump simultaneously. Twice the basket-handling capability means the unit is 50% faster, while ROI comes in half the time of the competition. It’s is the most straightforward and cost-effective fry automation solution available.

Scraegg Egg/Porridge/Soup Cooker

Fresh scrambled eggs in just 15 seconds? Now possible at breakfast bars, cafés, and C-stores! Plus soups, oatmeal, pasta & more. A one-button interface powers a proprietary Direct Power Steam System for fast, consistent results. Its compact, ergonomic design fits tight spaces, perfect for self-serve or staff use—no training or cooking skills required.

Dual Fuel Gravity Charcoal Oven

The Doyon Dual Fuel Gravity Charcoal Oven goes “hybrid” by generating 60 percent of its heat with charcoal and 40 percent with electric heating elements. Our patent-pending airflow system provides a rich, authentic barbecue-smoke flavor, while the heating elements reduce charcoal consumption by 20 percent. This oven ensures consistent results across nine racks and offers a broad temperature range from 180°F to 450°F, suitable for roasting, smoking, finishing and hot holding.

Digital Kitchen Application Platform

Software developers have increasingly focused on tools to aid kitchen functions, but the resulting array of unconnected and dissimilar apps can be bewildering and frustrating for crew. Ecolab’s integrated Digital Kitchen App is easy to use and can organize operational task management, food waste monitoring, recipe management, food labeling, tracking of remote monitoring and cold storage, and even employee communications. The system seamlessly integrates hardware, software and services in an easy-to-navigate solution.

PFAS (PFOA/PFOS) Reduction Systems

There’s increasing concern over harmful substances, known as “forever chemicals,” that can have lasting and harmful impacts after extended exposure. Everpure from Pentair Water Solutions has introduced PFAS filtration systems and cartridges, targeted specifically to foodservice, that reduce PFOA/PFOS. Because they range from 1,000-gallon to 4,000- and 10,000-gallon capacities, the line lets operations to apply them to low-volume ice and fountain applications, beyond just drinking water protections.

Qeamer

Kitchenless introduces a proprietary steam injection technology that’s integrated to an QR code-based mixing unit in a countertop unit that produces chef-quality dishes without traditional kitchen equipment and staff. Qeamer’s operating parameters, such as steam amount, mixing speed, rotation direction and speed, and braking intensity, all are matched to the specific needs of each prepackaged meal, ensuring perfect results. Operators benefit from reduced labor costs, minimized waste, and optimized energy consumption, making it a powerful alternative to traditional cooking.

FIZZBOT™

The FIZZBOT™, initially developed by the Yum! Automation team in RED INNOVATION LABS BY YUM!™ and is now being commercialized in partnership with The Middleby Corporation, opens up fully automated, POS-integrated beverage dispensing in a remarkably compact format. It handles fountain drink production from start to finish in just 20 seconds, providing a completed drink every 8 seconds during continuous production or up to 450 drinks per hour. The system includes hygienic labeling and sealing of up to three sizes of cups which are stored onboard. FIZZBOT™ supports diverse beverage menus with control for up to 28 different flavors—using carbonated and non-carbonated waters--plus ice.

NEO Undercounter Ice Machine w Filtration

Manitowoc is helping resolve an age-old pain by introducing the first commercial, standard-size undercounter ice machine with an on-board integrated water filtration system. Current standard-size machines require a separate water filter located outside of the machine, which needs space and diligence to install and maintain. NEO tracks ice making cycles and alerts the user when it’s time to change out the filter, but can run without a filter in bypass mode for house-filtered water.

MilkPal

How can the new hire create a perfect latte the first day on the job? This milk system could be their best “pal” by handling by far the most time-consuming part of sophisticated drink builds: milk foaming. MilkPal can deliver hot milk, cold milk, hot foam or cold foam, dialed in to the desired volume and consistency, at the tap of a user-friendly touchscreen. On its way to cutting drink prep time by up to 20 percent, the low-profile MilkPal can also reduce milk waste to almost zero by delivering precise portions. The unit stores up to 25 drink-specific recipes for precise results. Plus, with automated cleaning, it makes a once time-consuming closing process a breeze.

Metafoodx Platform for Foodservice Operations

Comprised of a mobile AI food scanner and a cloud-based dashboard, Metafoodx helps operators automatically track menu-item consumption, monitor leftovers, and capture food temperature with its IR temperature sensor. Using real-time data, the system enables accurate production forecasts based on true consumption and automatically generates operation and temperature logs for compliance and optimization, elevating dining quality and experience. The result: streamlined efficiency, optimized menus, and less waste.

LongWave IR Oven

With its successor to the well-known CTX oven, Middleby Marshall innovates with new top and bottom infrared emitters that more evenly distribute heat and boost the temperature limit by 33 percent. As a result, meats sear and cook evenly in one pass. The cooling fan has moved inside to reduce noise and heat, while a “cool skin” safety feature keep workers safer and more comfortable. Controls include 15 presets for time and temperature plus a one-button self-cleaning mode that cuts down on labor.

Gravity Beverage Fountain System

Fountain beverage is the most profitable category for many operators. The Gravity fountain system provides a wealth of data they need to optimize menu, prevent sellouts and minimize labor for upkeep. The control platform uses IoT to report immediate sales metrics and dynamically reprioritizes drink brand icons on the customer GUI according to demand, even graying sold-out icons until the respective product is refilled. CFV technology eliminates the need to adjust brix ratio when new drinks are introduced and over time.

Total Oil Management by Open Kitchen

Whether one or hundreds of restaurants are monitored, this system gives operators insights they can use immediately to ensure high equipment uptime, improve product quality and control their oil consumption and cost. An element of the Open Kitchen solution, it requires no input of data from people—everything is pulled from the fryer controller and from oil tank systems. The solution works with many brands of fryers with digital controls and connectivity.

Grill Station Assistant

In a fast-paced kitchen, it’s easy to lose track of what food was placed on the grill first and what should be served next—especially for new employees. The Grill Station Assistant uses advanced Vision AI technology to precisely monitor every item on the grill and help the grill operators keep the quality to high standards. The system automatically overlays virtual squares on a video display of the grill in the kitchen and gives the crew simple visual cues about each item’s readiness to serve. No timers, no buzzers, and far less food waste. It works with most grills and requires minimum, compact hardware.

Smart Kitchen System Hub

Renau’s Smart Kitchen System (SKS) Hub provides operators with a comprehensive digital overview of their kitchen. From visual management to remote monitoring, the SKS Hub assists staff with the most important food safety practices such as cook and hold times and task reminders. The SKS Hub is compatible with Renau’s wireless food probes to help track and log food temperatures. Data logging does not require a subscription, and the system can be configured for both local and cloud networking.

The Surface Unlimited Table

The Surface Unlimited Induction table is a gamechanger for operators looking for flexibility in their ambient and warm food serving operation. This revolutionary design replaces hot wells, eliminates the need for pans, and offers ambient serving alongside induction warming with advanced induction technology that allows for virtually unlimited placement of any size, induction-ready food vessel on the tables surface. Mounted beneath an NSF-certified engineered SmartStone surface, three 1800-watt, double hob undercounter induction ranges equipped with multiple intuitive sensors allow for numerous vessels to connect – instead of a the traditional 1:1 ratio required by standard induction ranges. A proprietary mounting bracket provides seamless side-by-side installation of up to 4 of these unique ranges with a hidden piano hinge control panel. Dedicated to quality & performance, this table is made in U.S.A of foreign and domestic parts and meets all electrical certification requirements.

Dynamic Response Refrigeration™ with Smart Control™

The state of the art of refrigeration control steps forward again supporting substantial improvements in both energy savings (20 to 50 percent) and noise reduction (30 percent). Traulsen's Multi-Patented Smart Control operates in conjunction with a variable-speed compressor to sense real-time changes in operating conditions and adjust such critical functions as defrost cycles and compressor power to optimize performance and reduce energy usage. The updated compressor is able to run at lower vibration and better balance to substantially reduce noise.

TRM - True Retail Merchandiser

This system of “plug and play” modular, medium- and low-temperature cabinets are fully self-contained, reducing installation time by 30 to 50 percent over similar systems using remote or hybrid units and long refrigeration lines. The True TRM lineup can cut refrigerant use by up to 87%, and with R290, it meets future EPA standards. The refrigeration deck on each can be repaired onsite, or fast-swapped with a new unit and bench-repaired elsewhere. Either way, the system is still running while repairs are underway meaning no need to remove product and no product loss.