Selmi makes production for small and medium-sized operations easier with its innovative machines and well-conceived handling. As a technology and global market leader for chocolate processing, Selmi successfully occupies the niche between handcrafting and industry.
By Alfons Strohmaier
For the Italian company Selmi S.r.l., headquartered in Pollenzo, perfection is a fundamental criterion of its company philosophy – and the basis for decades of success. Thanks to Selmi’s innovative technology, refined design and easy operation, the Piedmont region-based company has established a legendary reputation as a leading premium manufacturer of machines for handcrafted chocolate processing. The entire portfolio has always been focused on the size and customization of the machines with an aim to early recognizing trends among chocolateries, confectioneries and bakeries, enabling Selmi to consistently provide new impulses to the sector between handcrafting and industry.
Some of the latest examples of this include Selmi‘s special concept for modular, growable bean-to-bar production lines, the Tuttono one shot machine and the Chocoform chocolate extruder, as well as through its construction of a highly professional technical and training centre in Pollenzo, near the place of company foundation in Vittoria d‘Alba. Here, this family-owned and -operated company offers domestic and international guests a high level of training sessions and advanced training measures. The five-person team with ac-claimed chocolatiers such as Gabriele Rinaudo and Luciano Varetto has taken on the mission of conveying specific know-how and detailed choco-late processing techniques for everyone from beginners to advanced users.
Now, Selmi Partner GmbH in Neu-Ulm/Germany also offers this range of services on a smaller scale as the authorized sales partner for Germany and Austria since 2019. The regional branch operation presents a range of selected machines from the Selmi product portfolio at its attractive showroom in Neu-Ulm and equally offers customers training sessions along with product development or testing. Interested parties can check out the “Cocoa Workshop” to become better acquainted with Selmi‘s premium machines or for implementing their own projects with the pros from Selmi Partner.
”This and other services are indispensable today for the sale of machinery,” emphasizes Volker Müller. ”We want to familiarize our customers with perfect chocolate processing and the opportunities for innovative praline art, and we also provide comprehensive individual consultation”. A master confectioner and chocolate sommelier, Mr Müller has been in charge for over a year now of Selmi’s project and sales consultation in the two German-language countries. His many years of experience shape his conviction that those businesses where the quality of their pralines and chocolate have previously been rooted in handcrafting can also have the same handcrafting quality that they want using machinery.
Since Renato Selmi founded the company in 1965, its credo has been to supply first-class machines and appliances for the spatial needs and requirements of larger handcrafting operations and factories. The company initially built machines for processing hazelnut paste, and later on it began concentrating on processing chocolate. In 1987, Paolo Selmi entered his father‘s company and has stayed on the established premium course ever since. Selmi has continuously conquered ever more markets with its dedication to manufacturing increasingly efficient tempering and moulding machines with technical sophistication and easy handling. For example, the Selmi One and Legend as well as the RS 200 coating line have been winning over customers for decades now in chocolate labs, confectioneries, bakeries and ice cream shops thanks to their compact and well thought-out construction.
With new, multiply patented systems such as the Selmi Vertiflow for roasters, or the EX generation of tempering machines with a pump screw that can be removed quickly and other advanced developments, Selmi continues to impressively underscore its reputation as a technology and global market leader for chocolate processing in handcrafting and industry right through to today. This also involves the integration of the latest digital possibilities. The result is that Selmi‘s machines not only provide fully automated tempering, dosing and portioning, but are also state-of-the-art when it comes to quality assurance.
“Our customers benefit from the long service life and the modular application concept of the Selmi model programme, which equally benefits their creativity”, stresses Mr Müller. “In addition, our energy-saving drives and technology are a guarantee for economic efficiency and ecologically sustainable activity”. Selmi and the affiliate Selmi Partner in Germany also offer expert consultation along with a comprehensive repair and exchange service. A new Selmi machine is also set up and started up by its experts on-site at the customer‘s premises.
Recognizing tendencies on the market and proactively offering new solutions are some of Selmi’s greatest strengths. One example of this is the keen interest Selmi’s bean-to-bar product line has now enjoyed for some time among newcomers to the bean-to-bar scene, as well as among chocolatiers who are now increasingly beginning to create their own chocolate masses. From the roaster, which is also suitable for roasting hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios and more, to the winnowers, the preliminary grinding tool and the Micron ball mill, to the conche and the final sieve Vibro, which is also used for paste production, each machine is designed in its own right in the characteristic Selmi form. This way, the line can be ordered to be adapted to any spatial need or as a continuous line.
And the new Chocoform system for shaping previously prepared mass cylinders of chocolate, nougat or almond mass and the Tuttono 5 and 9 One Shot machine fulfil the highest standards of chocolatiers and handcrafting-focused operations. The One Shot underscores Selmi‘s ability to adapt pioneering industrial activities for small and medium-sized operations. The new models of the Vibra vibrating station, the vertical Spider cooling spiral and automatic demoulder round out the product line.
