Thanks to the unique detector design adopted to fulfill tracking and particle-identification (PID) requirements (eg low momentum cut-off and low material budget), the ALICE experiment provides significant information about hadron production both in pp and Pb–Pb collisions. In particular, the p T-differential and integrated production yields of identified particles play a key role in the study of the collective and thermal properties of the matter formed in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. Furthermore, the production of high-p T particles provides insights into the property of the hot medium created in such collisions and the in-medium energy-loss mechanisms.