Innovation lies at the heart of Epta. It is a way of life which involves the whole company, particularly product and process-related aspects, meeting challenges posed by environmental issues and new consumer lifestyles head on.

The Group’s team of about 270 R&D employees is located across 10 R&D centers plus 1 innovation centre. It designs innovative products and services which harness cutting-edge technology to intercept constant multi-channel evolutions in Retail, Food & Beverage and Ho.Re.Ca. markets.

The Group also has an entire department dedicated to exploring and experimenting with potential technologies of the future: the Innovation Centre consist of a team of Engineers and Industrial Designers' appointed to examine technologies, materials and processes, and to gauge how they can be used for products and services.

The Group is in the front line when it comes to the digital transformation of its production plants, turning them into “factories of the future” by introducing more modern machinery, robotised lines, real-time big data management and Industry 4.0 technologies.

Research and development in numbers

About 270

R&D employees worldwide

10

R&D centres plus 1 innovation centre

54 M €

investments in technologies and innovations to support growth from 2019 to 2021

+50

products launched in the last two years

Open Innovation: support for start-ups and innovation as a way of life

At Epta, product innovation also takes tangible form with Open Innovation activities involving start-ups and organisations outside the company itself.

Cultifutura start-up and vertical hydroponic agriculture

A start-up created by Corporate Hangar, an innovation incubator based in Milan offering vertical farming solutions for urban environments. Epta is a business partner of the company, which offers the CultEvo hydroponic fully automated cultivation system. This allows vegetable and herb gardens to be grown where people live or work, supporting sustainable urban agriculture.

FrescoFrigo Start-up, micro-supermarkets for apartment blocks

With the support of Epta technology, Italian start-up FrescoFrigo installs refrigerated Iarp cabinets in a variety of locations, ranging from offices to gyms, residential complexes, universities and hotels, to create highly evolved snack points and micro-supermarkets for apartment blocks. A purposely-designed App and a personal code allow users to view products, unlock fridges, pay and remove the chosen products.

Product Innovation and state-of-the-art Solutions

Epta’s Research and Development department is constantly at work to develop innovative products that combine original forms with sustainability, energy efficiency and digital transformation, for a truly innovative shopping experience.

Life Carbon 4 Retail Refrigeration

A three-year international marketing project (2018–2021) co-funded by the European Union, conceived to promote natural refrigeration as a sustainable solution whilst replacing HCFC and HFC refrigerants with transcritical CO2 by harnessing FTE and ETE Epta technologies. Life-C4R is part of the European LIFE Programme, embracing a variety of projects whose shared goal is to promote sustainable innovation and counteract climate change.

Life-C4R

Drive Piéton and quick commerce

The latest frontiers in home delivery and online shopping collection demand extensive store networks and increasingly flexible, customised commercial refrigeration solutions that ensure just-in-time availability of fresh products and even faster distribution. Epta’s products (plug-ins, cold rooms and click&collect cabinets) and services are designed especially for customers serving the food eCommerce market.

LineON: advanced monitoring of plug-in refrigerator cabinets

This digital solution from EptaService offers access to a variety of services on Epta’s built-in and plug-in refrigerators. The solution can be tailored to meet the customer’s needs, and is based on advanced connectivity that collects and analyses a large number of parameters, such as temperature, moisture and consumption rates, around the clock. This constant remote monitoring safeguards the quality of products displayed whilst reducing interventions, thereby improving efficiency.

#EPTABricks refrigerated lockers for collecting online purchases

Practical refrigerated lockers that preserve fresh and frozen products, designed to be paired with e-commerce platforms. The service allows consumers to collect food and non-food products ordered online from store websites whenever and wherever they like, even when the stores are closed. The refrigerated boxes can be placed anywhere, indoors or outdoors, in key locations along work-home routes, inside or near major companies or near shopping centres

Technology

Technology

24 Nov 2022

Cold room polyurethane insulation panel: Epta participates in LIFE VICORPAN for the environment

Environment

Technology

14 Nov 2022

Towards energy transition: two Epta projects selected in the ADI INDEX 2022

Technology

02 Nov 2022

Epta presents SwitchON Pack, the advanced diagnostics platform for refrigeration packs