Baden, Switzerland – Digrim, an established buying group active in the professional kitchen sector for the hospitality and restaurant businesses in Italy, joined forces with Ristoranti – Imprese del Gusto, a leading Italian food services publication part of the renowned Gruppo 24 Ore Editore, to elect the most innovative and sustainable products. Set against the backdrop of Europe’s largest HoReCa event, HOST 2011, the Digrim and Ristoranti competition named Activeion’s chemical-free cleaning device, the ionator EXP, ahead of other leading Italian manufacturers in two prize categories-- Green Excellence and Gold Innovation.

The two awards, Green Excellence 2011 and Gold Innovation 2011, were judged by a jury consisting of Roberto Carcangiu, R&D Cooking Director, Riccardo Oldani, journalist from Ristoranti – Imprese del Gusto, and Digrim representative Francesco Faetti. The Green award recognised products that are the most sensitive to the environmental demands to reduce natural resource energies and waste and to improve water and air quality. The Gold prize was established for the most innovative product in terms of usage, performance and design.

Digrim, the catering, machinery and equipment cooperative wholesaler established in 1976 quickly evolved to a major purchasing centre in 1984, with over 100 suppliers now in its network. Ristoranti – Imprese del Gusto, with a circulation of 35,000, is mainly targeted to medium and upper-medium rank restaurants, companies and wholesalers and focuses on company information, product news, technology and agro-alimentary quality issues. Ristoranti belongs to one of Europe’s leading economic and financial publishing giants, Gruppo 24 Ore, who in turn amasses over 140 publications with over 470 contributing journalists and 2,000+ employees.

Andre’ G. Krell, General Manager of Activeion Europe, states, “The Green Excellence award win reinforces Activeion’s strong position in the overall Italian market, as well as the important HoReCa sector. Most of our HoReCa clients are attracted to the ionator’s cleaning efficiency on the various surfaces common to the industry—from stainless steel and glass, to wood, ceramics and plastics. Gruppo Zernike, an Activeion distributor in Italy and long-time member of Digrim, handles HoReCa distribution and has been close to the field solving cleaning problems for diverse companies in the territory—one of which is reducing the amount of dangerous bacteria in hotel, restaurant and cafe’ workspaces—something the ionator can handle chemical-free.”

The award ceremony took place at HOST’s Gamma Room, on Saturday, October 22nd. Digrim’s communication portal, OpenDigrim, allowed fair visitors to access show information throughout the 5 days, and keep abreast of information concerning award participants. HOST 2011 is a significant international exhibition for the hospitality industry held in Milan’s new FieraMilano fairgrounds in Rho from October 21-25th. With over 150,000 visitors from around the globe, HOST ran important events and activities throughout the week.

About Activeion (Europe) GmbH

Activeion (Europe) GmbH, located in Baden, Switzerland, is the European subsidiary of Activeion Cleaning Solutions, LLC, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Activeion is a privately held cleaning technology company created to revolutionise the cleaning industry through the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of advanced cleaning technologies and products. Addressing the ever-growing need for sustainable cleaning, Activeion’s ionised water technology solutions are ideal for offices, hotels, hospitals, schools and other businesses. For more information, visit .

Copyright 2011 Activeion Cleaning Solutions, LLC., Patents pending, Activeion Cleaning Solutions, LLC, and Tennant Company.

Karin Mugnaini Girault
Customer Expectations Director
+41 22 533 00 30