'Hey, Feed the Fridge!'
What's New for Kitchens

We've peeked into the kitchen of the not-so-distant future and this is what it holds: burbling chocolate fountains and kids' refrigerators with built-in digital pets.

The kitchen-gear business is moving beyond toaster ovens and blenders -- way beyond. As the U.S. housewares segment builds on years of steady growth, some manufacturers are trying to expand their share of the American countertop with products that take on some very specialized tasks. Too rushed in the morning to get out the blender? One company just came out with a single-serving smoothie maker that doubles as a car mug.

Craving a hotdog that tastes just like one from the ballpark? Now there's a countertop version of those concession-stand grills, with heated bars that rotate each frank. And forget multipurpose Tupperware: The new Cup-A-Cake carrying case is designed to do nothing more than transport a single cupcake without smushing its frosting. It's billed as the "cupcake container of the future!" and carries a suggested retail price of $2.99.

"You can't just do the same thing any more," says Richard Hirsch, managing director of Franklin Industries LLC, the Brooklyn, N.Y., company that introduced a $149 countertop rotisserie appliance that can roast two 8-lb. chickens and steam vegetables at the same time. "People are getting sick of seeing the same products over and over again."

There's no guarantee these products will find buyers, of course. "Simple sells," says Peter Greene, general manager of NPD Houseworld, a division of Port Washington, N.Y., market research firm NPD Group. Customers seek convenience and customization, he says, leading to growing interest in products like KitchenAid's new countertop oven (for $150, it does everything from broiling to toasting). And history, he reminds, is littered with abandoned kitchen products: About 10 years ago, he recalls, a company brought out a $400 "Breakfast Express" that could be programmed the night before to make coffee, toast and fried eggs. "Last I remember seeing of it," it was on a TV shopping show, he says. "The price was down to $29.99."

The hyperspecialized kitchen gadget was just one of the houseware trends at this week's International Home & Housewares show in Chicago, the largest global gathering in the industry. Among the other patterns spotted among the 2,200 exhibitor stands at the housewares show: countertop versions of ovens and dishwashers, kiwi-colored cookware, and white appliances with stainless-steel accents. Krups, for example, just introduced matching white-and-stainless-steel toasters, coffee makers, coffee grinders and electric kettles, which will be for sale exclusively at retailer Williams-Sonoma.

It's little wonder companies are trying their luck with niche gadgets for the kitchen. The housewares industry has been growing at about 5% annually for the past five years, with $62.2 billion in retail sales in 2003, the last year tracked, up 7.4% from 2002, according to the International Housewares Association. According to the association's state-of-the-industry report, the appliance category is logging slightly lower growth than the industry as a whole, and makers are going to lengths to stand out.

Here are some of the more unusual new kitchen trends vying for buyer attention this year:

CHEESE CASCADE: Sephra's new appliance turns melted chocolate or cheese into a fountain of fondue.

Apparently, there's a downside to all the fondue that has been fashionable lately: In a classic chafing pot, the melted goo just sits there. Enter the chocolate fountain. These machines work by pumping melted chocolate to the top of a multitiered cascade, where it flows down over partiers' waiting skewers of strawberries or poundcake.

Industrial versions have been favorites at fashionable parties -- with one showing up at last month's New York launch of Vibe Vixen magazine.

Now, manufacturer Sephra Fountains is bringing a $250, three-tier model of its industrial version to the home. The company's pitch: "[It] not only delivers a beautiful curtain of warm cascading chocolate, but can also be used for fondue favorites such as caramel, cheese, BBQ sauce and even ranch dressing." (The fountain has four temperature settings, but for ranch dressing, Sephra recommends, users should keep the heat off.)

The move toward commercial-style entertaining gadgets doesn't stop there. California-based Helman Group says its own chocolate fountain, with a suggested retail price of $70, will hit stores next week. Helman is also behind that Old-Fashioned Hot-Dog Roller -- a red-and-white canopied cooker that can warm eight franks at a time. It will start shipping in six weeks, with a suggested price of $40.

JUNIOR CHILLS OUT: 'I-Box' fridge for kids features an animal design, an electronic 'pet' in the door—and a $399 price tag.

Remember Tamagotchi, those keychain-sized gizmos from Japan that featured computerized "pets" that kids were supposed to feed and water daily? The idea is back -- and incorporated into a new $399 refrigerator aimed at children.

Fujitronic Manufacturing just unveiled two kid-friendly "I-Box" fridges, one designed to look like a polar bear, the other like a dog. The 35-inch-high appliances have bright interiors (including a "rotary fruit compote" shelf), play music each time the door opens and include a pet that "lives" on a small screen on the door. Kids can choose a tiger, penguin, panda or dog -- and can restart the game if the electronic animal expires from lack of feeding.

Patrick Chen, a Fujitronics marketing associate, says that while the refrigerator is sold in Taiwan, China and Japan, it hasn't received any orders from U.S. retailers. "They would say, 'Wah, this is wonderful,' but after they asked about the retail price, it shocked them," he says. Adds NPD Houseworld's Mr. Greene: "How much is the Tamagotchi? I'll buy it without the refrigerator."

The Five-in-One Grill

Now that the George Foreman grill has become an American kitchen standby -- its maker, Salton USA, says it has sold more than 70 million since introducing them a decade ago -- the manufacturer is heating up its pitch. Salton's top seller last year was its $100 model with a removable cook plate. So this year, it says, it's going a few steps further, rolling out a model with five interchangable, dishwasher-safe cook plates. Salton's G5 grill will make everything from eggs and steaks to pressed sandwiches and waffles. The model, with a manufacturer price of $130, is scheduled to reach stores this fall.

Segregated Wine Storage

In the past few years, the market in refrigerator-sized wine cellars has grown from a tiny niche to one with multiple makers. While previous models chilled all wines to basically the same temperature, Haier America, a unit of Chinese manufacturer Haier, just introduced a model that is two wine coolers in one. Its 30-bottle wine cellar includes two chambers, enabling the homeowner to store reds and whites at different temperatures. It also features wooden shelves (rather than metal), meant to absorb vibrations that allegedly harm wine over time.

So who needs one? Many homes already have a place to keep white wines at lower temperatures -- the fridge -- and at $699, this model costs nearly twice as much as Haier's similar-sized units where red and white wines intermingle. Haier says it's targeting wine collectors who don't have room for a full wine cellar.

One Smoothie for the Road

One new appliance pairs two great American institutions -- rugged individualism, and smoothies. Smoothie and juice-bar revenues rose nearly 17% in 2003 from the year before, according to industry group Juice Gallery Multimedia of Chino Hills, Calif., reaching $887.2 million. While manufacturers have been selling smoothie-specific blenders for a few years now, Utah-based Back To Basics just introduced a personalized version: The company's Blender Express incorporates a 24-ounce blending container that can be inverted to serve as a mug that fits auto cupholders.

THE $700 RICE COOKER: Invection technology promises fewer grains stuck to the bottom. (It bakes bread, too.)

The $700 Rice Cooker

Induction cooking, which uses magnetic energy transmitted through metal pots and pans, has been gaining momentum in the U.S. recently, with Viking Range Corp., among others, introducing induction cooktops.

Now small-appliance makers are picking up the technology. Tiger America, a U.S. division of a Japanese manufacturer, says that since its induction rice cooker heats evenly, there's less chance of rice getting stuck to the bottom of the vessel. The unit does triple duty, serving as a slow cooker and a bread maker as well.

The drawback? It costs $699 -- 10 times or more the cost of most old-style rice cookers. Zojirushi America's new 10-cup induction cooker costs a bit less, at $300. (The company's regular 10-cup rice cookers run about $180.) Asked who would pay hundreds of dollars for a rice cooker, Tiger America President Anthony de Losada says he has a market in mind: "It's for the guy that buys the Lamborghinis -- or the gal that buys Ferragamo."

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