hydration products
Planet Zak’s Star Wars Collection Makes a Bold Style Statement
Planet Zak Star Wars Collection 64-ounce Growler
Zak Designs is expanding its Planet Zak collection of on-the-go drinkware to include a new collection that features classic “Star Wars” characters.
The Star Wars™ collection from Planet Zak includes a 26-ounce Vista Tritan water bottle as well as a 29.5-ounce stainless steel water bottle, and an 18-ounce aluminum canteen with a carabineer to make it easy to clip onto bags and backpacks. For those fans who want to use the Force to help keep their cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot, the Star Wars collection from Planet Zak includes an 18-ounce and a 32-ounce double-wall stainless steel vacuum insulated bottle with iconic badges on top of a powder coated finish. For larger thirsts, the collection will also include a 39-ounce single-wall stainless steel bottle.
Stainless steel growlers in 32-ounce and 64-ounce sizes will also be a part of the collection. Featuring a dual screw-top lid that makes it easy to pour and refill, these growlers have a black powder coating and a bold Darth Vader badge – so everyone will know exactly which side of the Force you’re on.
More information is available at www.zak.com.
Kickstarter Gadgets for the Kitchen
MIITO heats any liquid directly in a vessel
Kickstarter products are making a splash in the media and garnering buzz among consumers despite the fact that the products featured are only ideas that have not yet gone into mass production and are many times only in the pre-order stages – if you’re lucky. It is a unique concept especially when you consider that prior to Kickstarter, regular consumers never had such an in-depth glimpse of products in the pre-production stages.
If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter yet, here is your crash course. Kickstarter is a popular crowdfunding resource that is currently helping to facilitate the introduction of many new products, including innovative kitchenwares, to consumers during the prototype stage of product development. It allows people to launch online project campaigns in order to raise the funds needed to make ideas go from concept to reality.
Project creators can set a deadline and funding goal, then it is up to supporters of the idea to provide the initial funding to get the product to the next step toward the market. Crowdfunding websites allow the creators to outline a business plan and define exactly what contributors can expect for their funding. In the case of Kickstarter, if a project does not reach its full funding goal, the backer who made the pledge will not be charged.
HidrateMe smart water bottle
To date, 44 percent of projects on Kickstarter have reached their funding goals. Some kitchenwares that have been successfully funded include the Anova sous vide circulator; the Coolest Cooler, a portable cooler with a built in blender, removable Bluetooth speakers, a waterproof USB charger, and LED lights embedded into the inside lid of the cooler; GIR spatulas and the Belle-V Ice Cream Scoop.
One gadget currently garnering funding on Kickstarter is HidrateMe, a smart water bottle that works with an app to track the user’s water intake. The 24-ounce reusable bottle has a sensor stick inside that automatically tracks how much water is consumed throughout the day. It sends information to the free Hidrate app on your phone and glows when its time to drink more water.
The project started with a funding goal of $35,000 and as of print date had already surpassed the goal with $201,205 pledged. The project funding window will close in early July.
MIITO
Another hydration project currently making waves on Kickstarter is an induction kettle called MIITO. MIITO works by only heating as much water as needed in any vessel through an induction base and a stainless steel rod. Users simple place the desired vessel, like a teacup or mug, on the induction base and then place the steel rod directly in the cup. MIITO heats the rod inside the water until you have a nice hot cup of tea. It also works with milk for hot chocolate and can warm a cold cup of coffee or a bowl of soup.
MIITO is based on induction, which is essentially the wireless transfer of energy. MIITO’s bottom base creates an electromagnetic field, which heats only ferrous materials, in this case the disc attached to the bottom of the rod. When the rod is placed inside a vessel filled with a liquid, the disc heats up and transfers the heat directly to the liquid, meaning only the liquid is heated. MIITO’s design is safe for children since the top of the base always stays cold.
The project started with a funding goal of $167,383, or £150,000, and has reached $726,034 as of print date. The funding stretch ended on June 13.
IKAWA digital micro-roaster
IKAWA is a home coffee roaster that is also worth mentioning, as it has recently surpassed its funding goal as well. The digital micro-roaster allows coffee enthusiasts to roast their own coffee at home and control the roast recipe through an app. Users simply select the roast recipe from their smartphone, drop the beans into the roaster and watch them roast. The whole process only takes between three and 10 minutes. Recipes can also be adjusted for users who are a bit more adventurous, or created from scratch.
The company has already been supplying its micro-roasters to coffee professionals, and the Kickstarter campaign will allow the home version to reach consumer markets. To complement the machine, IKAWA has been working with coffee producers to source quality green coffee beans from origins such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Brazil and Guatemala. The company will sell its own green beans, but the machine will work with any that the user has on hand.
IKAWA has just surpassed it’s funding goal of about $90,000, or £80,000, as of this print date, ultimately receiving about $178,200, or £158,019, from 366 backers. Pre-orders will be fulfilled in February 2016.
This story was originally published in the July 2015 issue of Kitchenware News, a publication of Oser Communications Group.
Reduce Readies for Halloween 2015 with Spooky WaterWeek and Dash Tumbler Designs
Reduce™ presents colorful and creative Halloween designs for its popular Dash Tumbler and WaterWeek Kids collections, in anticipation of a seasonal sales spike this fall.
“The day of the week is a big factor for Halloween sales, and we hit the calendar sweet spot with a Saturday night Halloween in 2015. Also working in our favor are consumer trends, with more emphasis on Halloween parties and fun ways to incorporate Halloween themes into healthy lifestyles. It adds up to a big retail opportunity,” said Ken Kreafle, founder and CEO of Base Brands.
Reduce 16-ounce Dash Halloween makes a personality statement with three wicked Halloween designs: a black poison skull and crossbones tumbler, an orange radioactive tumbler, and a purple biohazard tumbler. Great for coffee, tea and hot chocolate – or water or hot or cold apple cider – they fit in standard car cup holders and snap open and shut to prevent spills.
A Master 20-Piece Display, headlined “Warm Up Your Halloween,” makes it easy for retailers to merchandise the Dash Halloween collection.
The Glow-in-the-dark Kids Halloween set features five fun 10-ounce bottles, each with a different design: haunted house, green ghost, howling wolf, spider web and jack-o-lantern. Sized for lunchboxes and styled for kids, they are leak-proof, with easy-to-use screw-on caps. The set comes with a convenient tray that keeps bottles organized and handy in the fridge. The boldly colored bottles come in midnight blue, orange, yellow, purple, and green
Reduce Dash Halloween Tumblers and WaterWeek Kids Halloween are BPA-free and dishwasher safe. They help families ditch the disposables in favor of money-saving reusable bottles.
Suggested retail prices are $7.99 for the 16-ounce Dash Tumbler and $16.99 for the WaterWeek Kids Halloween Set of five. They are available for immediate shipment.
For more information, visit reduceeveryday.com.
The FRUIT INFUSION Flavor Carafe from PRODYNE
By Lorrie Baumann
We get some nice surprises in our mail here at Kitchenware News, and one day a few weeks ago, the package plopped into my chair while I was out at lunch held a nicely boxed FRUIT INFUSION Flavor Carafe from PRODYNE. At first, I wasn’t quite sure that I even wanted to give it a try, as a previous experiment with a similar product had led to a puddle of sangria that flowed across my dining room table until I turned away from my stove and noticed what was happening.
But I’m nothing if not game, so I gave the FRUIT INFUSION Flavor Carafe a try – hedging my bets by filling it with water after I’d tucked a few strawberries and a quartered lime into the strainer container and screwing it onto the bottom of the carafe until it was just finger-tight. After checking to make sure that there were no leaks, I tucked it away into my refrigerator door and left it there for the afternoon. The fact that it’s the right size to tuck away into the refrigerator door is definitely a point in the FRUIT INFUSION’s favor, as my refrigerator has an odd shelving arrangement around a deli drawer that puts storage space for tall items in short supply.
When I got home from work, I poured out a tall glass of water from the FRUIT INFUSION Flavor Carafe, and sure enough, the flavor from the fruit had diffused nicely into the water. Over the course of the next week, I refilled the water in the carafe several times, leaving the same fruit in the bottom container. Then after a week, I decided I was getting a little bored with the flavor, so I removed a couple of the lime quarters and added a wedge of lemon and a sprig of mint from my garden. That was delicious too.
After about another week, I noticed that the strawberries were looking faded from giving their all to my drinking water. The next time I was ready to refill the carafe, I took out the strawberries – and ate them – they were soggy but tasted deliciously of lime-strawberry. I quartered a plum and added it to the fruit container along with a sprig of lavender snatched right out from under the bees that have been buzzing around the flower bed ever since the lavender began to bloom a week or so ago. What started a couple of weeks ago with a resigned acceptance that I’d better give this a try has turned into a fun and rather creative celebration of our beautiful Arizona springtime.
The FRUIT INFUSION Flavor Carafe has opened easily each time I wanted to play with my fruit mixture and then screwed together again smoothly and without a leak. The carafe is made of crystal clear BPA-free SAN polymer, so it’s sturdy enough to be handled by children. Although, if there aren’t any children in the house, the Flavor Carafe can also be used to infuse spirits for one of my favorite warm-weather cocktails, which combines cucumber, basil and vodka – I just have to wait for my basil to grow again. I’m looking forward to that. It can also be used for flavored iced teas.
The FRUIT INFUSION Flavor Carafe from Prodyne has a 1.5 liter capacity, and Prodyne recommends replacing the fruit in the bottom after seven to 10 days. While my sample, the FI-50, is crystal clear, the carafe is also available with a “Touch of Green” green bottom fruit chamber and green lid (FI-50-G). They retail for $19.99.
This story was originally published in the May 2015 issue of Kitchenware News, a publication of Oser Communications Group.
Dexas Snack-DuO Wins “Best in Show” New Product Award
Dexas and Popware for Pets claimed top honors during the coveted New Product Showcase at Global Pet Expo, the pet industry’s largest trade show, held recently in Orlando, FL. The company’s newly released dual-chamber pet hydration bottle called Snack-DuO™ was named “Best in Show” and took first place in the highly competitive dog category of new product introductions. The New Product Showcase attracted 925 entries during Global Pet Expo, with the dog products category accounting for over 500 entries. The Snack-DuO was voted the best new product in this crowded field, by buyers attending the show.
“The Snack-Duo is a product that solves a lot of problems dog owners face when they are taking their pets with them,” said Jeff Logan, Director of Marketing. “It’s simply the most practical, portable solution for carrying food and water for your pet, along with a collapsible cup for serving. And it all fits in a cupholder!”
Now in its fifth year, the New Products Showcase recognizes “Best in Show,” 2nd and 3rd place winners across nine pet product categories. The dog category continues to be the highlight of the event, as it attracts by far the most entries. The 2015 Global Pet Expo was also the largest show in its history, featuring over 3,000 new product launches across more than 3,100 exhibitor booths. Total show attendance was 15,500 people.
The Dexas Snack-DuO was also named a Finalist in the recent IHA Innovation Awards. Held each year during the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, the IHA Innovation Awards competition regularly receives over 500 new product entries. Winners across 13 categories were named, chosen from among the category finalists. The Snack-DuO was one of five Finalists in the pet products category.
In addition to these recent awards, the Snack-DuO also received a 2nd place award for Best New Product for Dogs at the vastly popular SuperZoo pet industry trade show in Las Vegas, sponsored by the World Pet Association (WPA).
The innovative idea behind all of these awards is the first reusable pet hydration bottle on the market with two side-by-side chambers. The Snack-DuO with Collapsible Companion Cup can transport both cool water and a crunchy snack or kibble within the same bottle cylinder. The two chambers each have a different lid configuration. There’s a watertight “cap top” on the beverage chamber, and a wide-mouth snap lid covering the snack chamber. The collapsible “Companion Cup” which can be used by the dog for either water or the dry food or snack.
The Dexas Snack-DuO is made even more versatile with the powerful advantages of Tritan™ copolyester from Eastman. Tritan material has set the industry standard for performance hydration bottles and is known for its clarity, safety and high-impact durability. Plus it is always BPA-free and dishwasher safe.
For more information, visit http://www.popwareforpets.com or http://www.dexas.com for innovative products for the kitchen, office and pets.
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