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GENERAL NEWS www.kitchenwarenews.com ■ JULY 2014 ■ KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW 7 BY LORRIE BAUMANN At first glance the speckled f rypans and saucepans that are part of The ROCK collection f rom Starf rit hearken back to grandma's speckled enamel ware, but if you run your finger along the inside surface of the pans, you'll feel the difference. "Our coating is speckled, and that's where the similarity ends," says Juanita Coumbias, International Sales and Marketing Director for Starfrit. "When you touch it, it feels almost like an orange peel." With The ROCK line, Starf rit has introduced a breakthrough in cookware that came from working with a factory that also produces aerospace, naval and automotive parts and employing a patent-pending process called shotpeening, which involves hammering the aluminum surface of the cookware with steel pellets. The percussion hardens the aluminum by making it denser, eliminating any tiny cavities within the metal and creating a dimpled surface that's a superior substrate for its Whitford Quantanium nonstick coating. The coating is a proprietary version of a new Whitford's coating, tweaked to improve its scratch and abrasion resistance, and Starfrit applies the PFOA-free coating in three layers. The process results in an ultra-durable finish and cookware that resists abrasion and scratching better than cookware that has the same Whitford coating but hasn't received the shotpeening treatment. "Because of the dimpled surface, it magnifies all the other properties we love about a nonstick," Coumbias says. The ROCK pans are actually 50 percent more scratch-resistant and 40 percent more abrasion-resistant than coated cookware not having the surface treatment. And on top of that, their food release is better. In its labs, Starf rit tested the pans' nonstick performance by dry-frying eggs in them. "We were able to do three times more dry eggs before the release started to falter with the surface treatment versus without the treatment – with the same Whitford coating," Coumbias says. Since the line's introduction at this year's The RoCK Takes a licking to Keep Food from Sticking International Home + Housewares Show, word-of- mouth on the line is driving adoption by foodies who are claiming that they've put away their other nonstick pans because this is the best nonstick they've ever tried, Coumbias says. Starf rit is offering a 10-year non-stick warranty on the line to be sure that they continue to feel that way after they've used the pans for a few years. The pans feature forged aluminum bases – 3.5 mm for the 8-inch fry pan and 4 mm for the 12-inch and 13.5-inch pan – for quick and even heat distribution. The forged aluminum construction offers 40 percent enhanced corrosion resistance over cast aluminum. Handles are cast stainless steel. Lids are made of tempered glass and feature a steam vent. Suggested retail prices range from $29.99 for the 8-inch fry pan to $199.99 for a 10- piece set. Starfrit is also offering a "Mini" series of three pans – a 6.5-inch fry pan, a 6.25-inch grill pan and a 7.25-inch wok with a suggested retail price of $14 each that give consumers an option for trying out the new cookware for themselves at a low price point before they decide to invest in the whole line. Or, since they're a little larger than other personal-size pans, they'd also be a packable option to send off to college with a neophyte cook this fall. Starfrit is also offering specialty retailers a few merchandising tools, including a display structure, a video that illustrates the process by which the pans are made to educate shoppers on what makes this cookware so special as well as display fixtures. In addition, Starf rit has a loan-a- pan program in which a loaner pan is credited to the store's account, so that the retailer can send it home with a customer for a week's trial. When they bring it back after they've made their decision to invest in the line, the pan goes home with another customer for a trial. "We honestly believe that once you try this product, you're not going to want to use anything else," Coumbias says. The ROCK cookware is currently available for retail at Bed, Bath & Beyond. also continues to pursue social involvements to give back to communities. This concept has been at the heart of the company since its inception. Sharing Success Foundation is one such endeavor founded by Bernd Schneider in 2000 to encourage other successful entrepreneurs to give back to disabled children throughout the world. "We aim at handicapped children in developing countries," says Patrick Schneider, President and CEO of International Innovation Company and son of Bernd Schneider. "We guarantee that of the money donated, 100 percent will be spent on these children because all the cost involved in the organization and all the costs involved in project management are being covered by either our company or the foundation we use in Holland." Working closely with the Liliane Foundation ensures that the proceeds will go to the mentally and physically disabled children they are intended for. The Liliane Foundation is based in the Netherlands with an international network in over 80 countries to direct the funds towards communities in need. Sharing Success organizes outreach to fellow business owners by hosting events to raise funds. Donors are able to gift money to the cause or actually create and sustain their own projects benefiting those in need. Past projects have included the construction of hospitals, shelters and schools. For example, one business owner who happens to be deaf donated around 300,000 euros to build a school for deaf children in Af rica that continues to operate years after its inception. Philanthropic business owners came to Sharing Success with an idea, and then through the Liliane Foundation the proceeds were used to build the facility with the donors able to see each dollar accounted for in relation to the project. "We work very close together, if an entrepreneur wants a special project Vacu Vin (Cont. from Page 1) somewhere, we call the Liliane Foundation, and they come up with proposals, so then we can sit down with an owner of a company and say, 'This is what we can do for you, what's your feeling about it?'" says Schneider. "And then everything starts going, and of course people can donate just money as well, but most of the time we see a lot of companies have their own project created." Schneider explains that transparency is one of the main goals of the foundation. Often with other similar organizations, much of the money intended for charity ends up being spent on the organization's overhead costs. Since Sharing Success reaches out to other businesses for support, they do not have such costs. A fundraising gala hosted by Sharing Success might take place at a hotel at which the owners agreed to lend their facility at no cost for the evening and all the catered food was donated by another supportive business. With such a model, Sharing Success is able to raise funds and see them go exactly where they are intended. The foundation has raised over 6.5 million euros since it began, helping more than 23,000 children in countries such as Indonesia, Burundi, Congo, Rwanda, India, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Colombia, Thailand, Nepal and many more. International Innovation Company sees its social endeavors as simply another aspect of being a successful business. Since the company first began with Vacu Vin in the '80s, it has been offering employment opportunities to workers who are mentally or physically disabled in partnership with the local government. These workers handle everything f rom the manufacturing to packaging of products at their factories in Holland. Schneider sums up the motivation and underlining principal simply: "Sharing Success is aiming at entrepreneurs who are having success because we say if you don't have any success, you're not able to share it. If you're running a business it's the most important part of it to stay alive and earn money. If you earn money then you should give a little bit back to society." houses, the kitchen has become part of a great room, part of the living environment," Schiavone says. "For nice appliances that really complement the home, stainless steel is the only nice choice. If you can't afford stainless steel, you end up having to settle for black or white." "There was a time when it was a sea of white, and now we're in a sea of stainless," adds Whirlpool Director of Design for North America Leif Norland. "Now, when you add color, it starts to humanize the products. We do that with KitchenAid and small appliances all the time." Whirlpool is taking the design sensibility that it has invested in the magnificent color array of KitchenAid stand mixers in the past and applying it to the larger appliances that the company plans to introduce within the next couple of years. We might even see the new products sometime next year, Schiavone says. The current product development emphasis is on colors that are slightly warmer and more inviting than the stark black, white and stainless that has pervaded American kitchens over the past few years. The specifics of what the Whirlpool designers have in mind are a deep secret until they're actually unveiled to the market, but the new colors are intended to offer consumers choices as comfortable as choosing for their kitchen appliances as they would if they were choosing their home furnishings, Schiavone says. In fact, that's how he looks at appliances, Whirlpool (Cont. from Page 1) he says – as "functional furniture," with an emphasis on style as well as technology. "Color is a really great way for people to begin thinking about their kitchen appliances as design elements in their home," he says. As an example, he points to the recent Jenn- Air introduction of a ref rigerator with a charcoal metallic obsidian interior, which was greeted by rave reviews from the market. "It's beautiful; it's absolutely fantastic," he says. The ref rigerator's interior is lit by multiple LED light sources designed to enhance the appearance of the food inside. "It's effortless. It looks so natural and makes the food look better," Schiavone says. Whirlpool's KitchenAid small appliance colors tend to be ahead of consumer trends, and the company often allows consumer choices and sales numbers decide whether a particular color will be retired or remain available to the market, Norland said. Raspberry Ice, Candy Apple Red and purple all have their fans, and when customers adopt a particular color as a favorite, KitchenAid keeps it in the line as long as it remains a favorite. "More than our competitors, color is in our DNA. We have more colors than Baskin Robbins has flavors," Norland said. "Our color, finish and material team are some of the best in the world. Retailers often ask what colors are coming. They're looking at us as the thought leaders when it comes to color … The last thing we want to do is to be expected." "We're a leading indicator for color trends for other companies. We do a combination of colors that we think will last a lifetime, colors that are fun and fashionable," Schiavone added.