New Port Richey, FL. – May 15, 2019 – Welbilt, Inc. is pleased to announce that the next generation ice machine from Manitowoc, Indigo® NXT, has been awarded the 2019 National Restaurant Association (NRA) Kitchen Innovations Award (KI Award).
The NRA’s KI Awards have been recognizing companies for 15 years. Every year a select number of foodservice equipment makers are acknowledged for their outstanding products that increase efficiency and productivity. Each award recipient is chosen by an independent panel of judges comprised of industry leaders, internationally recognized food consultants, multi-unit executives and design experts.
Indigo NXT was one of this year’s top 25 products in the NRA’s 2019 Kitchen Innovation showcase. The KI Award Committee recognized Indigo NXT as the only ice machine available today to use environmentally-friendly R410A refrigerant, which has 48% less global warming potential than previous models. All Indigo NXT machines exceed the new DOE (Department of Energy) energy standards and many are ENERGY STAR 3.0 qualified, making them available for consumer rebates. All Indigo NXT models are certified by AHRI (Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute) to ASHRAE standards assuring customers that the Indigo NXT ice machines perform according to published specifications.
Indigo NXT simplifies the process of owning and operating an ice machine by incorporating a 2.8-inch icon based easyTouch® display into their modular cubers. Installation and set-up are no problem with the startup wizard – Indigo NXT takes the guess work out of owning and operating an ice machine.
Thanks to its easy to de-scale and sanitize design, this ice maker provides the next level of sanitation. The optional built-in LuminIce® II device is fully integrated into the display and has a status icon in the display that provides peace of mind when the system is working and indicators to flag when servicing is required. Luminice II keeps the food zone cleaner longer, minimizing cleaning cost over the lifetime of the machine.
In addition, the new Indigo NXT is designed to provide the highest level of reliability; more than a half a million hours of testing went into the development of the next generation ice machine. Key component parts were rigorously tested through HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Testing) to ensure Indigo NXT ice machines will provide years of outstanding service.