The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2019
Metalquimia's Signature line deletes handles and crevices where meat bacteria hide
For its meat-processing line, Metalquimia swapped handles for grooves and embossed its logo, leaving no ledge where bacteria could grow — Red Dot 2019.
Metalquimia
What it had to solve
A meat-processing line — an injector, a massage unit and a continuous filling machine — works with raw meat all day, and food-industry rules demand machinery that nothing can contaminate. Any handle, seam or ledge can trap protein and become a breeding ground for bacteria, so cleaning alone was not enough; the machines themselves had to stop giving bacteria a place to live.
How it works
Metalquimia's Signature processing line answers the food industry's strictest hygiene question the direct way: it is built so bacteria have nowhere to settle. The line is made of 100 percent stainless steel and consists of three machines — an injector, a massage unit and a continuous filling machine — whose simple geometric shapes ensure meat does not stick, removing the food residue bacteria need to multiply.
The design discipline shows in the details. Handles, a standard feature on industrial machines, were eliminated and replaced by grooves; even the company logo is embossed into the steel as a relief rather than attached as a plaque. Every surface stays smooth and every shape stays consistent, so there are no seams, ledges or crevices where protein and bacteria can hide.
The Red Dot jury described the result as meeting the highest requirements of hygiene and safety in an exemplary way, and the line won the Red Dot Award 2019 for industrial design. The case is a template for regulated industries: when rules punish hidden dirt, the winning move is to design the trap out of existence.
Why it lands
- The brief was written by the machinery itself: raw meat passes through all day, and any ledge gives bacteria food and shelter.
- Instead of adding cleaning steps, Metalquimia removed the traps — handles, seams and attached logos — from the geometry.
- Grooves replace handles and the logo is embossed, so nothing protrudes to catch meat or hold moisture.
- The jury's words — smooth surfaces and consistent shapes meet hygiene requirements in an exemplary way — show the idea read as intended.
What it did
The Red Dot jury found the result exemplary — smooth surfaces and consistent shapes meet the highest requirements of hygiene and safety — and the line won the Red Dot Award 2019 for industrial design. The design turned cleaning regulations into a geometric language the whole machine obeys.
What you can take
When a regulation punishes hidden dirt, treat every protrusion as an invitation: the strongest fix is to remove the trap from the design instead of adding another cleaning step.
Since then
Signature became the flagship line of Metalquimia's hygiene-focused machinery, and its 2019 Red Dot win gave the 'design out the bacteria trap' approach an industry-stage proof point. The award record publishes no sales figures; the lasting result is a machine-language example of designing for cleanability that other food-equipment makers can borrow.
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