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The pioneering space entirely dedicated to coffee technologies and innovations is OPEN and it’s at your disposal.

IMA Coffee LAB is a unique microcosm of all that counts for the coffee industry.

A place where everything related to coffee processing and packaging converges to drive innovation and technology beyond today’s world into a realm where expectations are exceeded and coffee in all its varieties, is at the centre of everyone’s attention.

IMA Coffee LAB is your world, where we share the same priorities, an opportunity to explore today’s potential for tomorrow’s solutions.

Reaching uncharted heights enables you to acquire greater insight, broader experience and enjoy a new vision of a universe of different coffees, processing technologies and packaging solutions.

Take advantage of IMA Coffee LAB to experiment, analyse, innovate, expand your knowledge, cultivate your passion, redefine targets and achieve objectives.

The IMA Coffee LAB experience takes you beyond.

LET’S GO THERE TOGETHER!

IMA Coffee LAB

IMA Petroncini production site – Ferrara (Italy)

START THE COFFEE LAB EXPERIENCE

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  • Pilot plant
    Pilot plant
  • R&D
    R&D
  • ANALYSIS LAB
    ANALYSIS LAB
  • Tasting Room
    Tasting Room
  • Academy
    Academy
  • Consultancy
    Consultancy
  • Industry 4.0
    Industry 4.0

PILOT PLANT
Get a taste of a coffee factory

In a sense, the core of IMA Coffee LAB, our pilot plant is a fully operational scaled-down factory. From intake to cleaning and storaging, roasting, grinding and degassing, plus several packaging solutions, the entire process is accomplished in an area covering 3000 sqm.

Each stage is considered as an integral part of the whole, where innovative technologies and care for the product both play a vital and balanced role. Come and test each step, bring your own coffee and run it through the pilot plant from A to Z, exploring each opportunity to enhance the quality of your product and the efficiency of your production.

R&D
Innovation and sustainability hand in hand

Going beyond means breaking fresh ground, researching new solutions. Our R&D teams explore ways to minimise environmental impact, not only through innovative technologies to maximise energy efficiency, but also by developing sustainable packaging materials in collaboration with the group’s OPEN LAB. Engineering experts and design specialists find ways to reduce roasting emissions and energy consumption, create prototypes and develop software solutions to lead you into tomorrow’s world, where business opportunities will flourish.

Together with our R&D department you can test and develop exclusive solutions to enhance the value of your product.

ANALISYS LAB
Science at the centre

The Analysis Laboratory puts science at the centre of everyone’s attention. Here is where you can test green, roasted and ground coffee to gather vital information before defining the details of each machine at every step of the process.

The laboratory features high-tech instruments to determine colour, humidity, density, particle size and the physical characteristics which determine the final result. Being able to test, analyse and evaluate your own coffee samples, checking degassing levels and for roasting defects, you can adjust machine configuration and all the key parameters, thereby perfecting the quality and taste of your product.

TASTING ROOM
Targeting the taste

In order to respect the target tastes you define for your coffee, we need to perform the appropriate sensorial analyses. Our Tasting Room is where you, alongside our in-house experts, are able to judge the aroma, taste and consistency of the coffee using recognised tests such as Brazilian cupping or espresso-tasting, whether capsule style or from an automatic coffee machine.

Precise methods are employed to evaluate coffee before and after processing, on single origin or blended varieties, enabling you to fine-tune the process to achieve the target coffee you desire.

ACADEMY
Learning the secrets of coffee

One of the most engaging ways to increase all skills related to coffee processing is through the Academy. Learn the secrets of coffee with experts and authorised SCA training professionals who are at your disposal to improve your knowledge and gain expertise in green coffee analysis, roasting and grinding techniques, tasting practices, as well as sensorial analysis for espresso or Brazilian cupping.

Our Academy offers you a chance to agree on a personalised training scheme which you can define with our staff, focusing on the aspects that are of greatest value to you.

WATCH THE WEBINARS

Coffee Maestros focus attention on coffee and its treatments, from the green selection and cleaning, up to espresso or brasiliana coffee tasting.

Consultancy
Partnering each customer one to one

Listening to your needs and understanding your priorities helps us work toward a tailored plant configuration that answers all your demands. This is why our specialist technicians are at IMA Coffee LAB on a permanent basis, ready to find ideal processing and packaging solutions and achieve the quality and taste you desire, alongside a plant tailored to deliver maximum production efficiency. Together we can run tests and obtain immediate answers, examine all aspects on the spot and evaluate the preliminary steps prior to commissioning the plant.

An opportunity to increase your knowledge and ability to turn each part of the process into a benefit for your business, we see our consultancy services as a true demonstration of partnership.

TechTaste: The Coffee Interviews

TechTaste is an initiative which aims to pinpoint the benefits behind the relationship we at IMA develop with our customers in the coffee industry.

Industry 4.0
Boosting efficiency 24/7

All the support you require to refine your process in the form of Industry 4.0 connectivity thanks to our digital tools and software specially developed for coffee producers.

Featuring Coffee Control Room for product traceability, services also include monitoring of each step of the process. Connected machines and digitally managed lines will allow you to exchange data throughout the entire production line, increase uptime, obtain immediate remote intervention and provide planning for predictive maintenance. Alarm monitoring and dynamic action lists are also available to avoid downtimes and assist operators in boosting production efficiency.

“In this global, competitive world, customers want something new, innovative, stable and safe. At the IMA Coffee LAB customers will be able to test the most advanced process technologies, supported by highly qualified coffee processing trainers and consultants.

For some customers, it’s really important to see the product before they buy. They can’t visit other customer’s factories while in production, so we’ve created our own facility for the customer to try the full line. They can come in with their coffee, use our lab for cupping and analysis, and leave with their coffee in a bag or capsule format. It’s very unique for the industry.

We have a big passion for coffee. We love what we do. We always aim to work with the customer to make their life easier, and we will continue to look to the future and grow and invest to be the best we can be.” 

 

Nicola Panzani, Strategic Director at IMA Coffee LAB

ROASTING ACADEMY

The Roasting Academy is an experiential journey through the roasting process to discover and manage the key drivers of the coffee beans transformation, from the coffee varietals to how the roasting, blending, grinding and degassing processes influence the aroma and taste of the cup.

It offers all the theoretical and practical notions to become a professional roastmaster, with everything you need to know to gain expertise about green coffee, roasting and sensory skills.

ROASTING ACADEMY

A NATURAL FOLLOW ON OF A WINNING APPROACH

IMA Coffee LAB embodies a fundamental aspect of the vision we had when creating IMA Coffee HUB. Our role as a single source for the industry’s leading companies has encouraged us to provide a location where you can envision your project and envisage how to implement the coffee plant you dream of. Here are the experts, the technologies, the innovations and the insights, each addressing the needs of a global market where IMA provides a pioneering, all-encompassing vision of the coffee experience. 

Join us on this journey Beyond Coffee Expectations. 

 

Curious?

Curious to find out how we approach each step of coffee processing? Want to run your product through a section of our packaging line?

Come and discover a fully operational scaled-down coffee processing and packaging plant in line with Industry 4.0.

Interested?

Always wanted to perform a full sensorial analysis of your coffee blends? Interested in running trials on the latest sustainable packaging materials?

Share your objectives with us and we’ll examine every aspect together with you.

Schedule!

Keen to expand your knowledge and learn how to obtain the coffee you desire? Eager to gain exclusive insight into roasting, grinding and tasting?

Schedule a series of lessons with key figures in your company to enhance your expertise.

 

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