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GENERAL NEWS KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW n JUNE 2018 n www.kitchenwarenews.com 6 Hip Products LLC, announced the Hip bottle at this year's International Home + Housewares Show as its entrant into the $ 8 billion hydration category. Hip's philanthropic mission sets it apart, and its unique design makes it stand out. Hip is stylish, functional, and committed to helping those in need. Hip's creators are celebrated veterans in the design space. Following their landmark success at bobble, the self- filtering water bottle they created in 2010, designers Richard Smiedt and Karim Rashid have returned to create a bottle with style and purpose. "Great design has a voice and the ability to connect to so many people. However with Hip we want this connection to be much deeper than aesthetics. While we all are aware that our single ser ve bottled water habits are simply unsustainable, both f rom an ecological perspective and as a matter of financial common sense, we wanted Hip to have a greater purpose, a cause and a great partnership of a tangible give back for ever y product we sell," Smiedt said. Inspired by bottles used to carry water in the time of the Roman Empire, Hip is a 650ml/22-ounce flask-shaped bottle with wonderfully appealing proportions and distinctive textures. The team also added a side-strap for convenient carr ying. Recyclable, reusable, and made from Tritan, Hip is f ree of BPA, phthalates and PVC. While designed to address the massive environmental problem single-serve water bottles create, Hip's mission is much broader. Through a partnership with Water For People (waterforpeople.org), every Hip bottle purchased provides access to two days of safe drinking water to a person in need. With a suggested retail price of $14.99, Hip makes style accessible to consumers and clean water accessible to people around the world. Based in Denver, Colorado, Water For People is leading the water and sanitation sector with a model proven to end the global water crisis. With programs in nine countries, Water For People brings together local entrepreneurs, community members, and local governments to establish innovative, collaborative solutions that allow communities to build and maintain their own reliable, safe water systems. "The Hip bottle is a great way to connect consumers with the global crisis and give them a part to play in promoting water access to people around the world," said Eleanor Allen, CEO of Water For People. "We are grateful for innovative partners like Hip whose products are making a difference in the lives of so many people." While the cause may make consumers feel good about purchasing Hip, the design makes them look good using it. The sleek shape fits easily in a bag, and the texturized bases elevate it to a fashion accessor y. Available in six sleek colorways, Hip is as much a style statement as it is a functional, reusable bottle. For more information, visit https://be- hip.com. KN Hip Bottle Has Stylish Mission We Get by with a Little Help from Our Friends removed, the dish can be served directly f rom the Fancy Panz. But when it's time to leave the party, it's easy to take the foil baking pan out of the Fancy Panz and just leave it behind without giving it another thought. The idea came to the mother of three after she was asked to bring two potluck dishes to her son's youth football banquet. She was glad to do that, but she went to the event knowing that she had to leave early because she had another event to attend on the same evening. "They even asked me, 'Could you leave the food?' But then what do you do? I had to scrape it off onto someone else's platter," she said. She'd already been thinking about the problems of serving a crowd because, just a couple of weeks previously, she'd been the hostess for her family's Thanksgiving dinner. "It always happens, my sister and I always end up in the kitchen — we're happy to do it, but we're always the ones who finish the day in the kitchen cleaning up. So I thought we'd use foil pans. I Googled, 'How do you dress up a foil pan?'" Her computer search yielded one possibility. "A lady had sewed a little apron around her foil pan," Casey said. She discarded that idea quickly: "Number one, I don't sew. Second, the sauce would get saturated." So when she went to the football banquet, she was still mulling it over, and an idea was born, but she figured that being a stay- at-home mom for the previous 15 years hadn't really set her up to succeed on its execution. She got home and called her sister, Charlene. "I have an idea. Do you want to partner with me?" she asked. "She immediately said yes." Right now, I'm going to introduce a character into this story that's going to make you think that I'm just making all this up. But Casey's next-door-neighbor is Melissa Kieling, who famously invented the PackIt lunch bag after her kids complained that the blueberries she'd packed into their lunches were mushy by lunchtime. "I called her up and said, 'I need to come over,' " Casey said. "She was so gracious, and right next door. When I was halfway through [explaining the idea], she said, 'I love it. Don't tell another soul until you've filed a provisional patent. Do nothing until you do that.' " Then Kieling gave Casey the name of her patent attorney. With patent protection in hand, it was about executing the details. Casey thought she'd have to manufacture in China, but she wasn't happy with the quality she got there, so she found a company that could make her Fancy Panz in the U.S. From the start, the genius of the idea was obvious, but along the way, people offered a few ideas for how to improve the product. Casey listened. "They wanted a clear lid," she said. "They wanted it to snap better." And with that feedback, she threw out the mold she'd been using and had a new one made. Then she relaunched the new version of Fancy Panz at the 2017 Las Vegas Summer Market. "It is fun, I will say, but not always. It is stressful — like someone throwing you in the pool and saying swim. You own the company, and you're navigating with cargo and a blindfold on," she said. "It is challenging, it is rewarding, and I wouldn't change it." Fancy Panz are stackable and sturdy, dishwasher safe and accommodating to either hot or cold food. The transparent lid slides under the Fancy Panz during serving. Fancy Panz 2 in 1 now comes with a shallow lasagna/baking foil pan that's 1.5 inches deep, the box with its clear lid, a spoon and a riser, that when removed, accommodates a standard half-size pan, approximately 2.5 inches deep. The set retails for $19.99. A smaller version designed to hold an 8- or 9-inch square pan is expected to be released later this year, and new colors have just been released, giving the consumer a choice of six. For more information, visit www.fancypanz.com. KN (cont. from Page 1) Microplane® announces the appointment of Cathy Ayers, effective immediately, to the position of National Sales Manager, Kitchen Products. Dayna Butler, the former national sales manager, has left the company to pursue other interests. Reporting to Joel Arivett, Microplane's President of Sales and Marketing, Ayers will manage the U.S. rep groups, key accounts, and independent retailers. Prior to joining Microplane, Ayers was the national sales manager at WellnessMats, a U.S. manufacturer of premium standing solutions, for eight years. She has won numerous awards for her customer and vendor relations, including Vendor of the Year with HTI. "Her in-depth knowledge of our industry will be pivotal as we continue to build our brand and reach our retail partners," said Arivett. Based in Russellville, Arkansas, 2014 marked the 20th anniversar y of Microplane. First created in 1990 as a new form of woodworking tool, the original Microplane did not find its way into the kitchen until 1994. Since that time, Microplane graters have found enthusiastic support f rom professional chefs and domestic cooks and have earned a permanent place in restaurants and home kitchens around the world. Most recently, Microplane has entered the personal care arena with its highly effective, professional quality foot files and accessories. KN Microplane Appoints New National Sales Manager

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