Corporate News

Rational presents innovations: Integrated cleaning, digital solutions, and a completely new category of cooking systems

 Landsberg am Lech, 13 October 2023 – Rational presented no less than three innovations at eight international events at its headquarters in Landsberg am Lech. The market leader in hot food preparation inspired around 800 dealers, service partners and other multipliers from around the world with its game changer iVario Pro, an innovation in the iCombi Pro, solutions that drive digitalisation in professional kitchens, and a world premiere. In doing so, Rational demonstrated the pioneering role it has played in the industry over the last 50 years.

The first highlight of the international partner events celebrating the company's 50th anniversary was the presentation of the iCareSystem AutoDose - an integrated solid cleaner system as an option for the iCombi Pro tabletop units. Cleaner and care products are securely stored in solid form within the cooking system, enabling autonomous cleaning, either at the push of a button or according to a schedule. Theodor Tumbrink, Vice President Product Management at RATIONAL, summarises the advantages as follows: "iCareSystem AutoDose increases work safety, saves time and ensures HACCP hygiene standards. Unlike many other solutions, there is no need for hoses or canisters outside the cooking system." The new cleaning system is also the highlight of the Rational booth at Host, the international trade fair held in Milan in mid-October.

In terms of digitalisation, Rational also remains true to its pioneering role, as it has for the past 20 years. For the first time on the market, there is now an automatic interface between ERP systems and the two cooking systems iCombi and iVario: cooking programs pre-stored in the system are sent to all networked iCombi and iVario units within seconds and across all locations via the ConnectedCooking digital kitchen management system. This saves time and ensures uniform standards.

Meanwhile, sustainable resource management based on automatic data analysis helps to use the cooking systems more efficiently, extend their service life, and save energy and costs. Service partners also benefit from AI-based data analyses and forecasts: Faults are detected more quickly; unforeseen system failures are avoided, and service calls are easier to plan. If necessary, this can also be done remotely. “With these offers, our many years of digital expertise and our modern cooking systems merge to create real added value for our customers and partners,” says CEO Dr Peter Stadelmann about the digital solutions.

For the grand finale, Rational gave its partners an insight into the new appliance category for the first time, which guarantees the shortest cooking times with the highest food quality thanks to intelligent and adaptive control of microwave technology. “Our development team has successfully combined the three technologies of steam, hot air, and microwave in such an intelligent and adaptive way that this extra power, for the first time on the market, can be used across all rack levels in a 6-layer cooking system," CSMO Markus Paschmann explained in his presentation. The result is an absolute specialist: "It was developed with a clear focus as a supplement to the existing product range, geared to the specific requirements of selected businesses. The iCombi and iVario continue to be the best solutions on the market for most customer requirements," continues Paschmann. According to Rational, a gradual introduction is planned in spring 2024, with further information on technical details to follow in time for the launch.

Contact:

Rational Aktiengesellschaft

Stefan Arnold / Head of Investor Relations
Tel. +49 (0)8191 327-2209
Fax +49 (0)8191 327-72 2209

E-Mail: ir@rational-online.com
rational-online.com

Editorial note:

The Rational Group is the global market and technology leader for thermal preparation of food in professional kitchens. Founded in 1973, the company employs just under 2,500 people, over 1,400 of whom are in Germany. Rational was floated in the Prime Standard of the German stock market in 2000 and is currently represented in the MDAX.

The company’s principal objective is to offer maximum customer benefit at all times. Rational is committed to the principle of sustainability, which is expressed in its corporate policies on environmental protection, leadership, job security and social responsibility. Numerous international awards bear witness to the high quality of the work done by Rational’s employees year for year.