Dedicated to the most innovative products and companies in the HoReCa and Retail segments, the ‘Smart Label, Host Innovation Award’ returns next year as part of HostMilano – the world's leading event in the hotel sector. And applications are now open for the prestigious competition.

HoReCa is arguably one of the most impacted market segments in the post-Covid world, where businesses must respond to the new needs of customers and the contextual change of direction in terms of languages and methods of providing services.

Some of the main issues faced by the sector will be analysed and developed by the companies set to participate in the new edition of Smart Label, Host Innovation Award. Promoted by Host - Fiera Milano, in partnership with POLI .design (founded by Politecnico di Milano) and sponsored by ADI (the Association for Industrial Design), the Awards recognise innovation in the field of professional hospitality. 

Now in its fifth edition, the competition is aimed at all companies registered in HostMilano 2021, the world's leading event in the hotel sector. Running from 22–26 October 2021, the premier event will present the latest insights and innovations regarding equipment, raw materials, gear and semi-finished products. 

Awards for 50+ firms across 3 categories

More than 50 companies were awarded during the last edition of the event, selected from three different categories: Innovation SMART Label (dedicated to products with a high innovation content), Green SMART Label (awarded to products that stand out for their energy efficiency), and the SMART Label (recognising products capable of determining significant evolutions in each respective reference sector). 

Five special mentions were added to the three prizes by judge Iginio Massari, considered one of the best pastry chefs of our times. 

Academic and commercial worlds converge

A unmissable biennial event, HostMilano will showcase all facets of the HoReCa ecosystem, from raw materials to semi-finished products, from machinery to equipment, from furnishings to the table. 

Companies that have previously won the Smart Label, Host Innovation Award have “been able to highlight and confirm the extreme vitality of a sector capable of continually renewing itself, constantly improving and customising its offer,” the event’s organisers remarked. 

Mutual collaboration between organisers Host - Fiera Milano and POLI.design results in greater insights related to opportunities for the expansion of the market, whilst stimulating the development of innovative projects to meet the needs of a constantly evolving sector, and encouraging a real exchange of know-how across the segment. 

It is precisely this union between the academic world and the commercial market that makes Smart Label, Host Innovation Award the flagship for all companies that operating within the HoReCa segment. 

Identifying ‘intelligent’ products and solutions

"The numbers of Smart Label, Host Innovation Award indicate how much this award has become, year after year, a point of reference for identifying the best solutions and 'intelligent' products resulting from advanced scientific, technological and production processes, and how these have led to significant improvements in terms of the quality of life,” stated Matteo Ingaramo, CEO of POLI.design. 

“These awards – the result of the intense collaboration between the academy and the world of professions and entrepreneurship such as POLI.design and Fiera Milano – are fundamental to incentivise and enhance innovative solutions that make technology key to improving the well-being of individuals and society in general,” he continued. 

“Smart Label, Host Innovation Award is an opportunity to encourage companies in the hospitality sector to take new and stimulating paths in an innovative and functional way, opening unprecedented scenarios that, thanks to design, respond to problems.”

The impetus to innovate

 

"Smart Label, Host Innovation Award is the award that, better than any other, recognises the most advanced innovation and chooses the most intelligent solutions within the Italian and international HoReCa world,” remarked Simona Greco, Exhibition Director of Fiera Milano. “And it does so at a time when the universe of professional hospitality looks to quality and research to shape the trends of the future.”

 

"This is the exact reason why the best stage for the new edition of Smart Label could only be an international platform like HostMilano, capable even in a restart phase like the current one, to confirm itself as more and more hubs of global equipment, and to give impetus to innovation – thanks also to the investments that Fiera Milano plans on these issues,” he added. 

Enter your firm into the Awards

 

Until 30 April 2021, companies registered at Host Milano 2021 will be able to submit the application for their own product or project under construction, according to the methods indicated on the website www.polidesign.net through a special digital template (no others will be accepted as application forms). Each company may submit only one application to participate. 

The complete rules of the competition is available at the following websites: www.host.fieramilano.it and www.polidesign.net 

Commission and evaluation criteria

 

The Smart Label, Host Innovation Award Commission will be composed of five members, selected from professors, professionals and international experts with proven experience or qualification in the field of design, hospitality and energy saving. 

The Commission will evaluate the candidate’s products/services/projects on the basis of the following fundamental elements: the efficiency of the product or service functions, the effectiveness of the performance of the product or the usability of the service, the innovativeness of the methods of use and technologies, and the benefits for users. 

The deadline for submitting applications is 30 April 2021. 

For further information, including details on how to participate, visit: www.polidesign.net or www.host.fieramilano.it