Energy is required to survive,
and food is how we get that energy, whatever that food may be. Some bacteria
use basic carbon molecules, grass uses the sun, and we eat other living things,
but it is all food. Humans have evolved to eat complex meals that require
complex cooking, but it is not a requirement. I propose the Quick Cheffer because
it will simplify the meal preparation process and save time in people’s
schedules while still being healthier than microwave meals and fast food.
There is an opportunity area in
the food industry for faster food prepared in one’s own kitchen. Microwaves are
fast, but they cook unevenly and often create more mushy meals than when they
were freshly prepared. Ovens reheat the foods and keep texture, but they take a
long time. Microwave meals are not very healthy and are often very processed.
People are always busy at work or school, and very few people enjoy the process
of cooking so much that they would rather perform it than save time. The main
reasons people cook food over eating out is to save money and retain more
choice. The most important choices for many people are the health benefits offered
from the options, which is more easily controlled in one’s own kitchen. Fast
food is an easy out to get food quickly or on the go, and most fast food
locations are working on becoming more health conscious and having more
options. The problem then would simply be that it can cost a lot more to go to
a fast food location for every meal, and requires time for transportation if it
is not on the way. Studies show that the most common fast food customers are
those households that make over $60,000 yearly. This means that they have the
means to purchase an additional kitchen appliance, and they simply desire a
faster and easier meal option. The highest amount of fast food consumers are
located in the states with higher median household incomes, like the Northeastern
United States. There is also a high number of fast food restaurants in
Minnesota and the surrounding states. These areas and income demographics hold
an opportunity for an in-home appliance that would cook their food
automatically and quickly.
My product, called the Quick
Cheffer, is an automatic cooking machine with an internal computer for
processing a large amount of food options. It would retail for $500, and the
core concept is that it will rehydrate dehydrated food through specialized
processes. Currently, if somebody wanted to rehydrate some vegetables or jerky
they would have to man a frying pan with water and the food inside. The Quick
Cheffer would be able to rehydrate any chunks of dehydrated food through a
steaming process that would not require anybody to be present as the current
process does. It would also have an array of pre-packaged meals that could be
prepared quickly for a set number of people. The computer would have
pre-programmed cooking directions for such packaged foods distributed by me,
but it could be requested at varying doneness for meats or temperatures for
other food components. It would have a searing mechanism for sealing in the
flavor of meats the way grills do as well. The idea is to systematically add
water to the meals in very specific quantities and temperatures to prepare the
pre-made meals. I would also eventually offer a dehydrator for people to
prepare their own meals and snacks as well as cook books. My products would
also eventually have the option to be installed in homes as they are being
built the way most kitchens come with a refrigerator and an oven. This
partnership with builders would be huge if my product develops a market the way
that I know it can.
The business itself would be a
small team of executives for marketing, sales, and operations management. There
would but a small production facility initially, until it became feasible to
grow production capabilities. There would be a total of only 20 or so employees
underneath the executives total, with the majority being dedicated to actually
manufacturing the product itself. The Quick Cheffer has no true competition
because it is a completely new kitchen appliance. The only other way to
rehydrate food is a frying pan, and the only way to prepare a quick meal is by
microwave, which produces very different results to my proposed product. The ability
to prepare good, quality, and healthy meals in one’s own home is important to
many people, and my product allows them to do so with minimal effort and time
required. The goal is to take some of the fast food industry’s customer base,
the ones who are busy and place a high priority on their own time. These
customers would need to be sold on the product’s legitimacy and effectiveness,
so we would need to have a lot of taste-testings for people to see for
themselves the product’s ability to help. I would need to reach out to large
wholesale businesses to get this done. I would also need a colorful yet
simplistic approach to marketing in order to convey the product’s complex
systems without using too complex of a vocabulary. It will be hard to get the
first people to buy the product, but it will spread by word of mouth on its own
and without too much difficulty once it establishes customer support.
The Quick Cheffer will become the
new kitchen essential for all families, and it will simplify daily life. The
subsequent versions will offer more high tech and low tech options for a larger
range of the income demographics, and it will be a truly revolutionary machine
for the kitchen. Go ahead and chef up some meals, quickly.
