Countertop Appliances to Appeal to the Health Conscious Customer

By Amber Gallegos 

As the healthy eating trend shows no signs of slowing down, products continue to pop up to appeal to this crowd of consumers who are more and more becoming the everyday customer. While more than one-third of American adults are obese, according to the Center for Disease Control, 83 percent say they plan to change their diet to lose weight, as found in the 2015 Nielsen Global Health & Wellness Survey. Small appliances offer multitasking performance that can help customers approach their healthy eating goals with convenience and added control.

The new Omega Juice Cube is a stylish countertop appliance that can juice fruits and vegetables along with leafy greens, but also has the ability to make smoothies, all-natural nut butters, baby food, soy milk, almond milk, pasta and a variety of healthy snacks. The low speed masticating juicer takes the mechanics of Omega’s best-selling horizontal juicers and applies them in a new design that takes on the more recognizable form of a vertical juicer, arranging the working parts in a sort of U-turn resulting in a juicer that is a perfectly shaped cube.

“Americans as consumers used to shy away from multipurpose appliances, except for food processors and mixers. If it was a blender, they want it to be a blender. If it’s a juicer, they want it to be a juicer. Well, nowadays it seems like people are getting back into that open mind about having multi-use appliances again,” says Tim Fields, Omega President. “This is the all-around healthy appliance. Blenders have limitations, high speed juicers have limitations, vertical juicers have limitations – the Juice Cube doesn’t have any limitations.”

Since the Juice Cube is a low speed juicer, it also allows customers to juice up their recipes in advance, store them in the refrigerator, and then consume it over the next two or three days; a point of convenience that just might make healthy eating goals that much more achievable.

“It processes all these fruit and vegetables at a very low speed so there’s no extra aeration or anything like that in the juicing process. The juice lasts a little bit longer, it doesn’t turn brown as quick, and it doesn’t separate as quick,” says Fields. “It also gives us the ability to do really fine greens and wheatgrass and items like that.”

Fields adds that the design of the Juice Cube is aiming to appeal to those who might have previously passed on a juicer. The shape provides space for all of the juicer’s parts to store within the machine. “The fact that everything’s right there, every time you go to use it, I think is going to be a welcome surprise for many consumers,” says Fields. “We’re trying to make its form fit the lifestyle in the kitchen for a few more consumers that may have not looked at a previous styling.”

The Juice Cube will be available October/November for a suggested retail price of $299.

Food Dehydrators are another small appliance that can offer customers control over the foods they eat.

“The reason people might want to use a dehydrator is because that way they know what’s in their food,” says Darlene Schmitz, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for The Metal Ware Corporation, manufacturers of Nesco dehydrators. “When you dehydrate, you don’t add anything to the food, generally.… The natural sugars that are in the food actually concentrate as the food shrinks because the food gets smaller, so the food actually tastes sweeter than it does in the raw state. That way, you know where the food came from. You bought it at the store, you bought it at a farmers market, you grew it yourself – and you know exactly what’s in it.”

Schmitz says Nesco has been using the dehydrators at shows to make kale chips, with just a little olive oil and lemon pepper added, that are surprisingly a big hit with kids. Another favorite is sun-dried tomatoes, with a touch of Italian seasonings and olive oil, that also come out like a chip. Many customers use the appliance to make jerky, and Nesco also has a jerk gun for this use. A tray called a fruit roll sheet can be used for liquids or semi-liquids to make a fruit roll-up type treat. Users can even dehydrate soup, spaghetti sauce, or chili and then reconstitute it later. Dog treats are another possibility.

Nesco has been making dehydrators for over 40 years now and has 11 different models to choose from, ranging in price from $39 to $179. Schmitz says any of the models with an adjustable thermostat would make a nice entry level choice are any of the models that have an adjustable thermostat because this allows customers to figure out the setting they like best for produce versus meats, whereas other basic models have a set temperature. The Snackmaster[R] Encore Food Dehydrator (FD-61) comes with four trays, including a fruit roll sheet, and is adjustable to up to 12 trays that are purchased separately. It has an adjustable thermostat that ranges from 95 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, 500 watts of drying power, and a suggested retail price of $69.99.

Euro Cuisine’s Stainless Steel 2-Tier Electric Steamer allows home cooks to steam up a complete meal in the electric steamer’s two included 8.5-quart baskets. Vegetables, seafood and poultry can all be made at the same time with the different flavors on each tray. An easy-to-read LCD display features a built-in 90-minute timer, and the unit also features a built-in warming function. The Electric Steamer has a suggested retail price of $159.99.

The new Zojirushi Fish Roaster cooks fish without the funk. The countertop unit has a platinum catalytic filter to eliminate up to 90 percent of smoke and odor components. A stainless steel roasting rack directs excess oils and fats away from food. The Fish Roaster also features an adjustable timer up to 30 minutes, a flip-open lid for easy operation and a food server for easy removal of foods. It has a suggested retail price of $200.

Health conscious customer can also ensure their baby’s food is healthy too with Baby Brezza’s new One Step Baby Food Maker Glass that launches this month. This latest version of the One Step Baby Food Maker will be the only model on the market with a large 4-cup capacity glass bowl. Using a patented dual steam and blend functionality, users can make thier own baby food with the push of a single button. Baby Brezza will cook and blend the food at the same time, or users can choose from the steam only or blend only settings. The one bowl design eliminates the need to transfer hot foods into a separate blender, while a removable water tank simplifies filling and cleaning. The One Step Baby Food Maker Glass has a suggested retail price of $159.99.