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Simonelli Group and University of Camerino have established the International Hub for Coffee Research and Innovation.
How do you choose a good coffee? Usually its aroma and flavor are taken into account. However, the consumer does not always get to taste all its properties. From the raw material to the drink in the cup, coffee undergoes transformations and processing that, if not appropriate, can negatively affect the final result. The experience of professionals in the supply chain is not sufficient on its own to achieve the highest overall quality of the product. Technology plays an irreplaceable role, and the professional barista knows how important a coffee machine is in the preparation of an excellent espresso that can enhance the organoleptic properties in the espresso.
Simonelli Group, which has always been committed to research in order to offer the market highly innovative espresso and cappuccino machines and therefore able to open new routes and break down frontiers on the side of maximum quality, is convinced that the machine – a central element of the supply chain – is not the only meeting point between technology and coffee culture. Every step, from cultivation to cup, is of extreme importance on the road to quality, and in order to grow the coffee sector, we need to open up to the entire world of science. It was on this very premise that the International Hub for Coffee Research and Innovation was established. It was founded by Simonelli Group and the University of Camerino, one of the oldest universities in the world, established in 1336 and today one of the most accredited university scientific hubs, with international collaborations in the fields of chemistry, physics, biotechnology, and food science. The goal of the International Hub for Coffee Research and Innovation is to increase the quality of espresso coffee and cappuccino and encourage the spread of their consumption.
Today’s new consumers are proving to be more conscious and quality-conscious. This is also leading to an elevation in the level of professionalism of baristas and a development of the Specialty Coffee sector. The International Hub for Coffee Research and Innovation is supporting the entire global coffee supply chain, especially in the product processing stage, in the work of raising the professionalism of operators, with a view to maximum consumer satisfaction and market development. In this facility, science and technology are placed at the disposal of the coffee industry to achieve new quality goals. Unique in its specificity, this research center – while having its operational base in Italy – was born from an international perspective to become a point of excellence in coffee knowledge and know-how. In fact, it also acts as a hub for studies and research with other international entities in the relevant sectors. The two promoters (Simonelli Group and University of Camerino), in fact, intended to put their respective potentials in synergy, putting them at the service of the cultural and technical-scientific growth of the entire global coffee supply chain, keeping the doors of the International Hub for Coffee Research and Innovation always open to the future participation of other partners, both from the scientific and business worlds.
The structure operates through a steering committee, which is entrusted with the task of directing research activities, and a scientific committee, which, on the other hand, acts as the executive arm, carrying out coordination and monitoring. Appropriate scientific teams composed of international researchers and experts with specific experience in the disciplines under study carry on the research work with the support of a number of doctoral students. The activities of the Center take shape under various declinations, all of which can be traced around the concepts of research, knowledge, experience, authority, and innovation. The specific activities take place through the internal structure aided by collaboration with international research centers. To this end, the Scientific Committee is active in seeking international collaborations with centers that can boast the best knowledge and expertise on the identified topics, in order to form the scientific teams composed of pools of subject matter experts. Calls for papers will be conducted to screen the best papers concerning the topics of relevance to the International Hub for Coffee Research and Innovation and to identify the researchers who will be part of the scientific teams. The va lutation criterion is based on the rate of innovation and the impact it can have on the coffee supply chain. Authors of papers deemed worthy will be invited to present them at special scientific events, the proceedings of which will be published later. Researchers, internal and external, who collaborate with the Center can carry out their activities in an integrated way, between university laboratories and design and production facilities, within an international context that makes the International Hub for Coffee Research and Innovation a point of excellence in coffee knowledge and know-how.
With the coordination implemented by the scientific committee, the Center also combines its main research activity with training activities for operators in the entire supply chain and dissemination activities in relevant international contexts, aimed at both researchers and coffee operators who wish to deepen their knowledge in specific scientific fields. For training, there are courses or master’s degrees that make it possible to transmit knowledge and enhance the results of research work, while the dissemination activity is developed mainly through the periodic organization of an itinerant conference open to the world of coffee and the scientific world, where some of the research work carried out directly by the Center is presented, as well as those selected from the call for papers. International expert testimonials on the subject, capable of attracting the interest of the target audience, are invited to this event. The dissemination phase also involves the production of publications, both scientific (conference proceedings, specialized journals) and other (trade magazines, blogs and a dedicated website), as well as participation in international conferences and/or events focused on the dissemination of knowledge.
Here, then, is how the passion for science, which animates the University of Camerino, and the passion for coffee culture, which is in the “DNA” of Simonelli Group, come together at the service of international research to translate into innovation for the benefit of the fascinating world of espresso and cappuccino.
