Oser Communications Group

www.kitchenwarenews.com • MARCH 2020 • KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW 3 The Wolf'em Stick Goes Beyond Roasting Marshmallows BY LORRIE BAUMANN Wolf 'em Sticks are an outdoor cooking tool – a metal stick with a wooden cooking head on the end and two wooden handles that rotate the stick. "It's one of a kind – there's nothing like it in the whole world," says Julie Harrison, the mother of the two young men who invented the Wolf 'em Stick seven years ago while they were cooking over campfires at Boy Scouts events. The family will be introducing the Wolf 'em Stick to the national market at this year's Inspired Home Show. "They love camping; they love eating in the outdoors; they're both Boy Scouts and both are Eagle Scouts," Julie said. "They would cook biscuits over the fire using a stick made with coat hanger and a piece of broomstick." All their f riends said they wanted the sticks so they could make their own filled biscuits, so the boys went to work coming up with makeshifts that they could pass along to their f riends, she added. The Wolf 'em Stick is designed to be used by covering the cooking head with ref rigerated biscuit dough and then holding it over a campfire or cooking stove to roast the biscuit. A rotary handle turns the stick so the biscuit cooks evenly, and when it's golden, the biscuit cup comes off the stick and is filled with something good and then wolfed down by the happy camper who roasted it. Cinnamon roll dough, a homemade dough or pie crust can be substituted for the ref rigerator biscuit dough, and fillings can include sweet items such as pudding or pie filling or savory fillings such as taco meat or chili. It's a refinement of the roasting stick that's familiar to anyone who ever roasted a marshmallow over a campfire, and the memor y of those "Kumbaya" moments came back to Spencer Harrison when he and his brother Tanner were participating in a Young Entrepreneurs Academy after- school program sponsored by the South Jordan, Utah, Chamber of Commerce. According to the organization, the Young Entrepreneurs Academy ( YEA!), based in Rochester, New York, is designed to turn middle and high school students into confident entrepreneurs. During the year- long class, students develop business ideas, write business plans, conduct market research, pitch their plans to a panel of investors and finally launch and run their own companies and social movements. "'Let's make some Wolf 'em Sticks that don't fall apart,'" their mother recalls her sons saying. Over the course of the year, Spencer and Tanner revised their idea and made prototypes and samples and sold them to neighbors. At the end of the 30-week course, the two entered their Wolf 'em Sticks into a pitch competition in which local business people evaluated the 10 products submitted by all of those who'd completed the year-long project. "My sons actually won first place, and, because they won they got to go to the national competition in New York," Julie said. The Harrison boys went on to win second place in the national competition, and in addition to a cash prize, they were invited to go to Washington, D.C. to participate in a small business summit. "That was seven years ago," Harrison said. "We've just been making Wolf 'em Sticks ever since." Since then, the Harrison sons have gone on to finish high school as well as continuing to develop their ideas for a business with the support of their parents, Roger and Julie Harrison. Julie is currently handling much of the sales and marketing responsibility for the company while Spencer completes a mission assignment that will keep him in Thailand until 2021. His brother Tanner is currently a student at Brigham Young University, where he's studying mathematics and continuing to learn business skills. The family has now obtained patents and trademarks on the Wolf 'em Stick. They're manufacturing the tool at a Chinese factory and have sold more than 50,000 units. Wolf 'em Sticks are made of stainless steel with a hardwood knob to hold the biscuit cup and hardwood handles. Each is packaged on a peggable card that also holds an attachment for roasting hot dogs, cleverly made so that the pointed ends are bent back parallel to the length of the stick to lessen the danger of accidental impalement and to help keep the hot dogs or marshmallows from falling into the campfire. The set retails for $13.99. See it in the Wolf 'em Stick by Campfire Industries booth in the Design Debut area in the North Hall at the Inspired Home Show or visit www.wolfem.com. KN The Kai Group has appointed Noritaka Sawamura as Chief Operating Officer of Kai USA. Sawamura assumed his new responsibilities as of early January 2020. "I am excited to be part of this unique company," said Sawamura. "I don't think there's another company that offers its customers such a wide variety of cutting implements designed to help them successfully accomplish tasks in so many areas of their daily lives. Customers with a wide variety of interests—f rom outdoor activities to cooking—know they can count on Kai USA's strong, well-respected knife brands to provide them with excellent value every day." Kai USA is the North American division of Japan's Kai Group, which provides more than 10,000 different products worldwide, ranging f rom housewares and fine cutlery to beauty care products and medical supplies. As COO, Sawamura will oversee such nationally known brands as Kershaw Knives, Zero Tolerance Knives, Shun Cutlery and Kai Housewares products. In addition to those responsibilities, he will also direct Kai's Universal Razor Industries division in Los Angeles. Sawamura brings a strong background and global perspective to Kai USA. Before joining the company last year as executive vice president, he served for 31 years in a variety of executive positions with the Sony Corporation, working in Japan, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada. Most recently, he was senior vice president and head of consumer electronics with Sony of Canada, Ltd. Jack Igarashi, who has led Kai USA since 1997, is returning to Japan in an expanded role as Corporate Auditor of Kai Group. Under his leadership, Kai USA made remarkable strides, growing to annual sales exceeding $90 million. Sawamura intends to continue Kai USA's growth, becoming even more competitive and even more innovative in its products and consumer communications. He sees Kai USA as a kind of crossroads between the U.S. and Japan. On the U.S. side are the Kershaw and Zero Tolerance pocket knife brands. On the Japanese side are the Shun brand and Kai kitchen cutlery products. "I'm looking forward to the challenge of managing both sides of Kai USA's business to maximize our opportunities in the marketplace now and in the future," commented Sawamura. KN Kai USA Names Noritaka Sawamura as COO

• Cover