Simonelli Group details its machines’ automatic functionalities and the benefits they offer for busy hospitality businesses across the world. 

Coffee consumption has steadily increased over the years. Consumers, particularly younger ones, are increasingly demanding, seeking consistent high-quality recipes that are prepared quickly. On the other side of the counter, hospitality businesses are facing high staff turnover and training costs, hindering business expansion. Research has therefore focused on technological solutions that can meet consumer needs, transforming them into loyal customers and ensuring sustainable growth for businesses – both environmentally and economically.

The Nuova Simonelli and Victoria Arduino brands, part of Simonelli Group, have always listened to the needs of the market and their customers to propose technologically advanced yet easy-to-use solutions at every stage of their history. In response to the evolving market, both brands are now introducing exclusive, patented automation technologies within their range of traditional coffee machines.

Nuova Simonelli, through the new Nuova Aurelia range, now offers C-Automation (Coffee Automation) technology that connects the machine and grinder in a single system, delivering high performance and ease of use for coffee extraction. C-Automation connects the machine and the grinder to share the same recipes by means of the portafilter, controls the flow of coffee dispensed, automatically adjusts the grinder to ensure a consistent result, and increases workflow speed by up to 20 per cent. The consistent quality of the beverage is ensured by an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that controls the flow and adjusts the grinding if necessary. The technology is also designed to limit human error and reduce the amount of coffee wasted.

Milk-based beverages are among the most requested and loved worldwide. For these beverages, Nuova Simonelli offers automatic milk frothing systems that simplify operations, even in the presence of untrained staff or during peak times. Within the Nuova Aurelia range, Nuova Simonelli introduces the new E-Milk technology.

The E-Milk steam wand enables the user to automatically froth up to nine different milk recipes, providing flexibility to vary the menu based on the type of beverage or milk. Once the recipes have been saved, the machine operator simply needs to select the recipe from an electronic knob displaying the icon associated with the beverage. The E-Milk wand, with a milk presence sensor, then automatically starts frothing the milk in the jug. Once finished and the wand is in its original position, E-Milk automatically performs the purge function to ensure a long life of the wand and reduce cleaning time for staff. Therefore, the operator only has to worry about serving a consistently excellent product and guaranteeing an great customer experience, maximising workflow.

For the rest of the Nuova Simonelli range, including Appia Life, the Easycream automatic frothing system is available. The Easycream double wand is capable of preparing the milk foam with the exact amount of cream and correct temperature in line with a recipe. The frothing system is designed to be fast and efficient, and can be used to set two milk recipes.

All products in the Nuova Simonelli range also incorporate an automatic system that supports baristas in their work, aiming to optimise the result in the cup and reduce waste. The S.I.S (Soft Infusion System), which is standard on all Nuova Simonelli coffee machines, acts in the pre-infusion phase. Thanks to a pre-infusion chamber and a special water inlet channel, the initial pressure curve is gentler and allows for complete wetting of the coffee puck while ensuring a constant delivery of nine bars of pressure. This is designed to guarantee a higher extraction quality for every type of coffee and compensates for any tamping errors by the operator. S.I.S. delivers greater consistency in the result and reduces waste due to errors or lack of experience on the part of staff.

The Victoria Arduino brand, aimed at the quality and specialty coffee segment, also offers solutions that can speed up workflow, reduce waste, and optimise the product to further improve the tasting experience. Victoria Arduino has recently presented an extraction module that automates filter coffee preparation and offers PureBrewCoffee, a filter coffee with a new aromatic profile. PureBrew+ not only prevents baristas from managing a large number of variables (brew time, temperature, and water dispersion) but also allows them to focus on the customer experience and increase extraction consistency.

PureBrew+ is capable of delivering up to 500 millilitres of high-quality filter coffee in a repeatable way. The patented PureBrew technology guarantees the preparation of PureBrewCoffee automatically: simply set the recipe and extraction profile to have a cup result that is always fresh and without waste. The flexibility of PureBrew+ lies in the ability to extract not only coffee but also tea and infusions without any risk of contamination. Within the display, it is possible to set up to 12 recipes for coffee, tea and infusions, guaranteeing speed, automation, and, above all, personalisation of the desired result.

Victoria Arduino also offers automation systems for coffee extraction, incorporating them into high-end products. PBtech, a technology present in the professional machines Black Eagle Maverick and E1 Prima PRO, for example, is an on-off espresso extraction solution that uses water pulses to give the coffee puck more space to expand, resulting in a more balanced cup in terms of aroma and flavours.

For those looking for consistency, repeatability, and waste reduction, Victoria Arduino proposes the Virtual Intelligent Scale (VIS), incorporated as standard in the Eagle One and E1 Prima PRO machines. VIS is a virtual scale based on an AI algorithm that speeds up dose control for each shot without the need for an external scale. The digital system constantly monitors each dose and is easy to use.