Innovazione

🍳 Maestro Martino Food Academy launched "AI FOOD" at Identità Milano 2025, exploring artificial intelligence in gastronomy to enhance accessibility and practicality in the restaurant industry. The project, in collaboration with HighEST Lab (University of Turin's AI lab) and Chef Carlo Cracco, aims to demonstrate AI's role in improving creativity, optimizing processes, and making high-quality dining more sustainable and dynamic. AI FOOD's objective is not to replace chefs but to augment their abilities, reduce waste, and adapt to the evolving sector. On February 24 at Allianz MiCo, a practical demonstration featured Carlo Cracco, Paola Pisano, and Luca Sacchi, illustrating AI's potential in culinary management and skills dissemination. AI FOOD represents a journey that began at Identità Milano 2025, involving chefs, restaurateurs, and institutions in creating an accessible, sustainable, inclusive new dining model that respects both tradition and innovation.

📈 At SIGEP 2025, Fabio Russo interviewed Pasquale Iazzetta, Commercial Director of Caffè Passalacqua. Despite a turbulent context, Passalacqua achieved double-digit growth in 2024, launching a new vending line that mirrors the quality of their bar coffee beans. With over 70 years of history, Passalacqua maintains high-quality standards in both the Horeca sector and Italian homes, emphasizing their Neapolitan roasting art.

🛠 Tecnoinox Srl, an Italian manufacturing company with over 40 years of experience, launches a new line of hermetic gas cooktops for the Horeca sector, featuring contemporary design and maximum hygiene. The new cooktops offer high cooking powers of 11 - 10 - 6 kW in the T90 line and 7.5 - 5 kW in the T74 line, ensuring high energy efficiency and faster preparation times. The company, established in 1984 and based in Porcia, Friuli Venezia Giulia, specializes in modular kitchens, salamanders, and combi ovens, overseeing the entire production cycle with a focus on innovation, quality, customer care, reliability, and sustainability.

🏨 Hotel management technologies such as PMS, CRM, RMS, CRS, OTA, and BI have become essential for optimizing operations, improving guest experiences, and increasing revenue. PMS automates daily tasks and centralizes bookings, while CRS manages reservations across various channels to prevent overbooking. Modern RMS uses AI to predict demand and adjust prices. CRM enhances customer relationships by personalizing experiences. BI analyzes operational data for strategic decisions. These systems improve efficiency, reduce errors, and increase profitability, making them crucial for competitive hotel management.

🍕 Diego Vitagliano awarded "Identità di Pizza" prize at Identità Golose 2025 in Milan, celebrated for innovation and diversification in pizza dough. Pizzeria locations in Naples, Bagnoli, and Pozzuoli praised for indirect fermentation techniques using biga and poolish, including gluten-free options. Vitagliano's pioneering approach recognized by the Gambero Rosso with Tre Spicchi since 2021, top spot in 50 Top Pizza Italia and World, and 2022's I Maestri dell’Impasto. In 2023, awarded for Best Dining Room Service by 50 Top Pizza Italia. His book “La pizza napoletana tra creatività e tradizione” set to publish at the end of 2024.

📱 Consorzio Asti Docg collaborates with Credemtel and Mynet Srl-Società Benefit to launch a smartphone app designed to streamline communication within their consortium. The app features two main modules: Bacheca for consortium updates and Armadietto for document management, aiming at efficient internal communication, real-time promotional updates, and sustainable organization by reducing emails and paper waste. This move reinforces the consortium's commitment to digital innovation. Directors Giacomo Pondini and Stefano Ricagno emphasize the app's role in engaging the viticultural and winemaking supply chain and representing the region's interests.

💲 Aiav joins the promoter committee for the formation of the Consorzio Trust Data Identity Network to promote digital identity use. Committee members include Adiconsum, Flowe (Mediolanum), BFF Bank, and others from institutional and business sectors. Aiav's president, Fulvio Avataneo, expresses pride in representing tourism, aiming for safer verification methods to simplify payment management and reduce fraud.

✈ Wizz Air launches a new route between Rome Fiumicino and Birmingham starting June 16, flying three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays using the latest generation Airbus A321neo. This expansion strengthens Wizz Air's presence in Italy and offers more travel options to explore the UK. The announcement was made by Salvatore Gabriele Imperiale, corporate communications manager of Wizz Air.

🏕️ Saxony, Italy, sees a 15.6% increase in overnight stays by Italian tourists in 2024 compared to the previous year. The region recorded 8.1 million arrivals (+2.7% from 2023) and 19.9 million overnight stays (+0.6%). Dresden and Leipzig are key attractions, along with the European Football Championships and cultural routes in Saxon Switzerland, Elbe Valley, and Ore Mountains. Foreign tourists accounted for 952,140 arrivals and 2,176,619 overnight stays, 8% of the total. Notable growth from the Netherlands (+16%), the United States (+13.4%), and the Czech Republic (+12.5%). Saxony's tourism strategies are affirmed by the growth despite a slight decrease in German overnight stays (-0.2%). Looking ahead to 2025, Chemnitz's selection as the European Capital of Culture is poised to further boost tourism.

💳 Antonio Di Berardino, country manager of Dojo in Italy, aims to speed up payment times and simplify daily operations for those in the experience economy. Dojo, a UK-originated Paymentsense brand, serves the hospitality and restaurant sectors with innovative, multi-cloud payment solutions. As of 2024, Dojo boasts 150,000 customers across Italy, the UK, Ireland, and Spain with an annual transaction volume of €43 billion. Their cloud-based system is adaptable, featuring 4G and Wi-Fi connectivity, pre-configured terminals, and a multilingual call center that resolves 90% of issues within 16 seconds. After establishing a European legal headquarters in Ireland, Dojo expanded to Spain in May 2024 and Italy in October. The Italian team has a Milanese HQ, 14 staff members, and a 40-person sales force. Dojo has recently entered the rent-a-car sector and is exploring new markets.