The National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show announced the 20 recipients of its 2023 Kitchen Innovations (KI) Awards, which recognizes the year’s most forward-thinking and cutting-edge kitchen equipment and product innovations that meaningfully improve foodservice operations.
Among the 2023 Kitchen Innovations Awards recipients is Coca-Cola’s Costa Smart Café Marlow 1.2.
The Costa Smart Café is a revolutionary piece of autonomous equipment that provides barista-quality coffee at the touch of a button. Essentially an unmanned coffee shop in a box, it is designed to craft and dispense over 100 hot and iced drinks before any human assistance is needed.
The Costa Smart Café delivers an interactive experience to the consumer, incorporating all five senses throughout the beverage creation process. The machinery uses high-quality ingredients including fresh coffee beans and milk, ground and frothed within the machine. The Costa Smart Café provides a turnkey solution as it requires a low amount of human labor without sacrificing beverage quality. The system requires only water, waste and power to install and can create 100 drinks before human maintenance is required, making it a huge asset for operators.
Additional information about the Costa Smart Café will be available at the National Restaurant Association Show, May 20-23, 2023, at McCormick Place in Chicago.
The KI Award recipients were selected by an independent panel of judges comprised of industry leaders and internationally recognized food facility consultants, multi-unit executives and design experts. This year’s recipients reflect the trends and topics most important to foodservice operators today, while generating industry growth through a focus on automation, efficiency, safety improvements, sustainability and more.
