Innovation Trends

The concept of industry 4.0 is strictly linked to the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution that has its origins in 2011, when the digitization of industrial processes began the transformation that eventually lead to enhanced business productivity and flexibility. In this context, in order to respond to an increasingly efficient production, logistics 4.0 became an essential asset. Despite not having an official definition yet, we could state that every activity encompassing the planning, the storage flow of raw materials, semi-finished and finished products, in order to meet customer requirements via the use of enabling technologies, is part of this recent approach…

As we all know by now, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of machines - especially computer systems - to perform tasks commonly associated with human intelligence. Since the term was coined, back in 1956 at a conference in New Hampshire, AI has become a trending topic spanning various sectors. Many are its applications but what mostly interests us is its implementation within the supply chain. The capabilities of AI are already significantly increasing companies’ efficiency in the areas of predictive demand, warehouse management and operations costs. Intelligent systems can rapidly process and analyze a huge number of data thus…

High pressure processing (HPP) is a non-thermal technique that allows food preservation by inactivating harmful pathogens and vegetative spoilage microorganisms that cause food-borne diseases. With this system, most foods can be efficiently preserved while minimizing the impact on taste, texture and nutritional value. HPP utilizes intense pressure (about 400–600 MPa or 58,000–87,000 psi) at a process temperature of less than 45°C. Products in flexible and water-proof packages are conveyed within plastic baskets into a vessel which gets filled with water; this, in turn, gets pressurized at 6,000 bar. Acting uniformly, isostatic pressure inactivates food-borne microorganisms and spoilage enzymes in a…

Food packaging is a global industry that has experienced a constant growth in recent years: plus 6.8% in value terms since 2013, a figure that confirms packaging as an essential element in modern trade. Due to the growing interest that consumers are showing in fresh products with extended shelf life, the biggest challenge that the food packaging industry is currently facing concerns continuous innovation in concepts and technology to satisfy and somewhat anticipate their needs. Starting from the visual appeal that significantly influences the consumers’ choices, one of the most interesting innovations is vacuum skin packaging. With its clear, attractive…

Frozen food has earned a negative reputation over the years for being highly processed and less nutritious than fresh food. You may be surprised to learn that this is far from the truth. Frozen food can be just as healthy, if not healthier, than its fresh counterpart: it all depends on how quickly and efficiently the food has been frozen and also on how professionally the supply chain has been managed before that frozen food reaches our kitchens. Freezing food to avoid spoilage is a practice that has been popular since 3000 BC when the ancient Chinese used ice cellars…

The COVID‐19 pandemic significantly disrupted the food supply chain: think of all the food normally going to restaurants that had to be diverted to other outlets to avoid its waste or all those gaps in the supermarket shelves due to the absence of common items whose availability has always been taken for granted. In this context, having a system in place that allowed distributors to extend the shelf life of foods proved to be essential: it was not just about being able to meet the unforeseeable peaks and falls in demand but also - and above all - about preserving…

As governments all over the world began the distribution of Covid-19 vaccine, cold chain management has emerged as a crucial factor for ensuring the effectiveness of the vaccine itself. An efficient management of the vaccine cold chain requires several degrees of coordination among multiple stakeholders such as - just to name a few - pharmaceutical manufacturers, specialized laboratories for storage and logistics providers who can ensure climate-controlled transportation and distribution. Even if for a completely different range of products, this process is not dissimilar to the one we experience on a daily basis in our business. The cold chain and…

Since our core business is the export of high quality Italian food all over the world, a well-functioning supply chain has always been essential to us. As if to say, there is no excellence without a timely delivery. This is the reason why, for the past twenty years, we have always improved our logistics management with the intent of constantly ensuring a perfect service. Many years ago we introduced in our range of services the sea freight groupage shipment: we chose it because it is a cost-effective, eco-friendly way of transporting goods and at the same time it allowed us…

  Is it possible to generate clean energy from wine processing waste? Today, it is indeed. The innovation is a result of the partnership between Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Serena Wines 1881 – among the top-5 Italian producers of prosecco – which teamed up in a biennial research project based upon a joint patent. Ca’ Foscari President Michele Bugliesi and the Director of the Conegliano (Treviso)-based company, Giorgio Serena, have signed an agreement for the in-lab development of new generation PV cells that will exploit the natural dyes of the lees – the waste product of winemaking and…

  2018 saw a 71% increase in wine followers on Instagram. Such result – recorded by Omnicom Pr Group Italia by surveying the top-25 Italian wine makers in terms of income (source: Mediobanca) – highlights how Instagram is the most active social network in the wine world: 17 of the 25 companies – as opposed to 15 in 2018 – have an official page. While Facebook is the main network in terms of the number of profiles – 21 of 25 companies – Instagram is on the rise in terms of users. YouTube and Twitter – on the other hand…

  St. Isaac’s Square, St. Petersburg: a baroque construction towers before the statue of Czar Alexander II. This building hosts the institute dedicated to Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov (1887-1943), one of the most remarkable personalities in modern science. A geneticist, botanist, and agronomist, Vavilov was one of the most brilliant minds in the first half of the 1900s. He conducted numerous studies concerning the origin of cultivated plants and collected an enormous quantity of seeds, all meticulously classified and recorded at the Institute of Applied Botany, currently named after him: the Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry. One can say that…

  Despite it has existed for over a century, a large number of consumers are still somewhat sceptical towards frozen food. It is a common belief that fresh products are of a higher quality, and especially that they have more vitamins and nutrients compared to those exposed to temperatures lower than -18°C (-0.4°F). In reality, a number of scientific reports have proven that there are no significant differences between fresh and frozen vegetables and fruit, and even hint that a number of greens are stored better when frozen. Most fruits and vegetables have a water content between 70 and 90%,…