HomePage News presents a Year in Review, a gallery of key product introductions from 2023. This gallery looks at kitchen tools, food storage and cutlery.

Scroll through the slideshow below to view:

Compiled by Elizabeth Dempsey, Contributing Editor.

Jeffrey Reigle, longtime leader of the family run Regal Ware cookware manufacturing and marketing business, died Wednesday, November 22. He was 72.

Reigle, a third-generation descendant of Regal Ware founder J.O. Reigle, was president and CEO of Regal Ware from 1992 to March 2021, when he was succeeded by his son, Ryan. Jeffrey Reigle was Regal Ware’s board chairman.

Kewaskum-WI-based Regal Ware is a longtime manufacturer and marketer of cookware. The company, which produces cookware in nearby West Bend, WI, markets premium cookware under such brands as Saladmaster and American Kitchen through direct-sales, retail and e-commerce channels. The company previously was a leading retail cookware supplier under such brands as Regal Ware and Club. The company recently sold the Espro brand of coffee and tea products to DKK.

“My father was not only a brilliant leader but also a loving husband and father,” said Regal Ware CEO Ryan Reigle. “He set a high standard for us as a family and as a company. His legacy of compassion, innovation, transformation, and commitment to our core values will guide us forward.’

Jeff has served as chairman Direct Selling Association, chairman of the Direct Selling Education Foundation and president of Cookware Manufacturers Association. He was inducted into the Direct Selling Association Hall of Fame in June 2018.

HomePage News presents a Year in Review, a gallery of key product introductions from 2023. This gallery looks at cookware and bakeware.

Scroll through the slideshow below to view:

Compiled by Elizabeth Dempsey, Contributing Editor.

Veteran housewares executives Yvette Laugier and Sylvie Giret are partnering to provide management and consulting services to consumer product businesses.

Chicago-based Laugier is the former managing director of Peugeot Saveurs North America and current chairman emeritus of the International Housewares Association board of directors. She offers retail distribution expertise across all channels.

New York City-based Giret is a former managing director at La Brigade de Buyer (marketer of the de Buyer, 32 Dumas, Pebbly housewares brands) and has been a trade advisor to the French government. Giret offers knowledge of e-commerce, digital marketing and direct-to-consumer channels.

“We are excited to launch this new venture and leverage our combined experience to help businesses achieve their goals,” Laugier said. “We believe that our fractional management approach, which allows companies to access senior-level expertise on a part-time or project-based basis, is a valuable solution for businesses of all sizes.”

Laugier and Giret are serving houseware clients, and they said they offer experience and capabilities in a variety of consumer product industries, lifestyle, beauty and fashion.

Laugier and Giret will offer a range of services:

• Fractional CEO, CMO and sales director services: Provide senior-level leadership on a part-time or interim mode for various projects, such as building or restructuring distribution, initiating and managing business deals, considering an acquisition, and rethinking an existing product and marketing strategy.
• Strategy and business performance consulting: Provide expert guidance and recommendations to increase and optimize business performance to established brands; assist incoming domestic and international brands with realistic and customized go-to-market plans.
• Additional business consulting: Provide project-based senior-level advice and recommendations on everyday business challenges, including marketing, sales, human resources and other aspects of operations.

“We are passionate about helping businesses succeed and believe that our experience and expertise can make a real difference, whether for foreign companies looking to launch in North America or for already established brands of all sizes,” Giret said. “We are committed to providing our clients with the highest level of service and support.”

HomePage News presents a Year in Review, a gallery of key product introductions from 2023. This gallery looks at electric coffee and tea makers.

Scroll through the slideshow below to view:

Compiled by Elizabeth Dempsey, Contributing Editor.

Joelle Mertzel, president of Kitchen Concepts Unlimited, is on a mission to educate consumers about butter.

Mertzel came up with the idea for her flagship product, Butterie (pictured above), after discovering butter didn’t need to be refrigerated. “I grew up with butter in the fridge,” Mertzel said. “My parents did, too. It’s dairy. It says to keep refrigerated, right? And so your whole life you’re slicing off little things of butter and trying to get it on the toast for it to melt so you can spread it… and I’m like, wait a second. We don’t have to do that?”

However, upon starting to keep her butter on the counter, she found that she had issues with her traditional butter dish. The lid was too slippery. How do you set it down so that it doesn’t leave a ring of butter on the counter? That is when she had the idea for Butterie, a flip-top butter dish that would solve all of her issues. Shocked that it didn’t exist yet, Mertzel, then a stay-at-home mom, started the process of figuring out how to make her dream product a reality.

Mertzel started with product research. “Am I making a product that the marketplace really needs? How many people are keeping their butter on the counter? That was my big question. I hadn’t been doing it. If nobody else is doing it, then is this really a necessary product? How many knew they could keep better on the counter?”

She discovered one in four people keep their butter on the counter all the time, and about half of America knew they could. “For a basic everyday item that people are using for meal prep in the morning, lunch, dinner… I mean, butter is such a part of everything,” Mertzel said. “So to have that misinformation about it, I just thought it was really fascinating,” she said. But with at least 25% of people keeping butter on the counter, Mertzel knew that she had a demand for her product.

She started selling the Butterie at Bed Bath & Beyond before moving into Walmart with the lower-priced version, Better Dish, as she felt the $12.99 pricepoint for Butterie was going to be too expensive for Walmart. Within a year, Better Dish went from a 1,400-store test at Walmart to nationwide. Her goal is also to expand into the global market. The Butterie is currently made with plastic, but Mertzel has plans to make it in ceramic, stainless steel, copper and sustainable bamboo.

Earlier this year, Mertzel and Kitchen Concepts petitioned the FDA to update their recommendations for butter storage. Since July 2019, the FDA has stated on the USDA website, “Butter and margarine are safe at room temperature,” she said. “However, if butter is left out at room temperature for several days, the flavor can turn rancid, so it’s best to leave out whatever you can use within a day or two.” Yet, when Mertzel pressed for supplemental data regarding their recommendations, she said no information could be obtained from FDA representatives.

Kitchen Concepts worked with Michelson Laboratories, Inc., an FDA-approved food safety lab, to test butter at room temperature. Various butter brands were analyzed every three to seven days and tested for spoilage organisms such as general bacteria, coliform bacteria, yeast and mold that could limit shelf life. The samples were also tested for oxidation and rancidity. They found that the butter samples had a good microbial quality for 21 days when stored at room temperature. “It’s our mission to talk about keeping butter on the counter. I say it wherever I can, and I try to get as many large-scale platforms as I can to get the word out,” Mertzel said.

Among the education efforts Mertzel has made to dispel consumer confusion is a children’s book every new customer gets for free, “Change Your Life for the Butter.” The short read essentially serves as a creative press kit. “The whole point is you’re trying to communicate information, right? And you want to do it in a way that’s fun and receptive and exciting,” she said. “And I have a fun story to tell. I thought, why don’t I tell the story as a story? Because I have three kids, I was so used to reading children’s books every night as I was tucking everybody into bed.

“It was just the voice that came to me so naturally,” Mertzel continued. “I just feel so blessed to have built this business, which I just love. I get to be so creative and get to just the way I market, the way I develop products, the way I do packaging, the way I run the business with my employees,” she continued, “I feel like I won the lottery getting to know this business.”

Looking to the future, Mertzel asked herself, “How do I keep my original concept while expanding?” Along with making the Butterie in different materials, Kitchen Concepts is working to expand with products such as the Better Drizzle, a drip-free, flip-top oil dispenser; the Z Bottle, an oil dispenser with a larger capacity and different internal structure for the flip-top than the Better Drizzle; and a four-piece breakfast set that they are hoping to sell to Costco. The company also currently sells the SnapAway, a collapsible knife that attaches to the rim of a tub of butter, storing the knife inside.

Despite having to deal with recall complications, Yeti Holdings beat a Wall Street earnings and sales forecast with introductions helping to drive results.

A Yahoo Finance-published analyst consensus estimate for the quarter had adjusted diluted earnings at 54 cents and revenues at $426.4 million.

Net sales were $433.6 million, basically flat to $433.6 million in the year-earlier quarter.

By sales channel and category, according to Yeti, year over year:

• Direct-to-consumer channel sales increased 14% to $259.5 million due to growth in Drinkware as well as Coolers and Equipment.
• Wholesale channel sales decreased 16% to $174.1 million due to a decline in Drinkware as well as Coolers and Equipment.
• Drinkware sales increased 6% to $253.3 million, led by strong demand for Rambler straw lid mugs, expanded offerings in Rambler and Yonder bottles, a new beverage bucket and additional seasonal colorways.
• Cooler & Equipment sales decreased 8% to $171.5 million, primarily due to the stopped sale of the soft coolers affected by the recalls. Despite strong overall consumer demand, hard coolers declined year-over-year primarily due to the success in rebuilding channel inventory during the same period last year. Strong performance in the existing Hopper Flip soft cooler line, as well as cargo, partially offset the impacts.

Yeti indicated that operating income was $61.9 million versus $68.5 million in the year past quarter, as adjusted operating income was $71.4 million versus $73.3 million.

Yeti pointed out that its adjusted measures exclude the impact of the voluntary recalls. In February 2023, the company proposed a voluntary recall of its Hopper M30 Soft Cooler, Hopper M20 Soft Backpack Cooler and SideKick Dry gear case and established reserves for unsalable inventory on hand and estimated product recall expenses as of December 31, 2022, related to gift card redemptions in connection with recall remedies. The company added that 2023 results have been materially pressured by gift card redemptions in connection with recall remedies as well as the stop sale of the soft coolers included in the recalls initiated during the first quarter of this fiscal year.

Matt Reintjes, Yeti president and CEO, said in introducing the financial results, “Our third quarter results demonstrate the continued and consistent execution of the Yeti growth playbook, driving strong brand and product interest while setting up the business for long-term, sustainable growth. Sales in the quarter were in line with our prior outlook, as a diverse range of new product offerings drove strong consumer demand across our major sales channels. Gross margin performance remained exceptional and above expectations, led by strong partnerships with our suppliers on product cost and the ongoing optimization of our transportation and logistics expenses. These gains continue to support growth-focused investments across our business while still driving upside to our bottom line. In addition to disciplined execution during the third quarter, we also successfully launched our expanded line of Hopper M Series soft coolers back to the market earlier in the fourth quarter. We are well positioned to build upon our leadership position in the soft cooler category as these products are more fully distributed across our channels into next year. In addition, we have extended a key customization capability across our global business with the debut of our first e-commerce customization options outside of the U.S. Our consistent ability to drive innovation, combined with our unique omnichannel approach to reaching consumers and our continued brand investments, builds a strong and scalable platform for future growth.”

Instant Brands announced it has completed the sale of its appliance business, including the Instant Pot brand, to an affiliate of Centre Lane Partners.

Instant Brands, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in June of 2023, reported in early October the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved the company pursuing the sale of its housewares and appliance businesses in separate transactions to affiliates of Centre Lane.

Private equity firm Centre Lane owns Lenox Corporation, which includes such brands as Lenox, Reed & Barton, Oneida, Hampton Forge, Cambridge and Kate Spade New York.

Instant Brands continues to market such housewares brands as Corelle, Pyrex, Snapware, CorningWare, Visions and Chicago Cutlery.

“We are pleased to complete the sale of our appliance business to Centre Lane, who we believe is a great home for our appliance business as well as the employees that support it,” said Ben Gadbois, president and CEO of Instant Brands. “We strongly believe that with an adequate capital structure, Instant Brands will be in a much stronger position to support its products and continue to launch new innovative products globally. Finally, we want to thank all of our retail partners and suppliers that have continued to support us during this process.”

Instant Brands reported it is continuing to work on the ownership transition of its housewares business and will provide an update in the coming weeks.

Meater, known for its wireless smart meat thermometers, has introduced the Meater 2 Plus Thermometer offering what the company says is enhanced connectivity, precision monitoring, upgraded craftsmanship and a robust design for durability.

“Meater 2 Plus marks a significant step forward in kitchen technology. Our commitment to providing our customers with tools that enhance their cooking experience is unwavering,” said Joseph Cruz, Meater co-founder and president. “We’re excited to empower chefs — both amateur and professional — with the precision, convenience, and innovation Meater 2 Plus brings to their culinary endeavors.”

Meater is owned by Traeger Grills, which in 2021 acquired the wireless thermometer brand’s parent, Apption Labs.

The Meater 2 Plus is designed to embrace the progression of smart meat thermometers and includes the following features, advancements and upgrades:

• Precision Monitoring: With the company’s Smart Temp Multisensors, the Meater 2 Plus has five internal high-resolution temperature sensors and one ambient sensor to detect the core temperature of the meat, reducing human error in probe placement for successful results.
• Direct Open Flame High-Heat Grilling: The thermometer probe is constructed with a stainless steel ambient end, providing an ambient temperature max of 932°F and an internal temperature max of 221°F so grillers can cook their meat over the direct heat of an open flame, including searing.
• Enhanced Wireless Connectivity: The Meater 2 Plus has an extended wireless range assisted by a high-performance antenna with an optimized RF design to operate in extreme heat. In addition, the thermometer uses Bluetooth that enables long-range wireless transmission. Like all Meater products, the Meater 2 Plus is compatible with Meater Link Wi-Fi and Meater Cloud for whole-home coverage.
•  Fast Charging: The thermometer charges up to 50% in 15 minutes, allowing the probe to be ready for a 12-hour cook. To maximize usage and efficiency, the probe will last 24-plus hours and a single AAA battery keeps the probe charged for up to two years, which is twice as long as previous Meater models.
• Premium Craftsmanship: Meater describes the Meater 2 Plus as having an elegant full metal, stainless steel design that combines both durability and sophistication. It is 30% slimmer and even stronger than its predecessor, along with being waterproof for use in deep frying and sous vide and is dishwasher safe.

The Meater 2 Plus is available now on Meater.com for $119.95.

Lodge Cast Iron has been producing cast iron cookware in the U.S. for 127 years. Joseph Lodge started the Blacklock Foundry in 1896 in South Pittsburg, TN, to begin manufacturing cast iron products, including cookware. After a fire destroyed the foundry in 1910, Lodge rebuilt and rebranded the company as Lodge Cast Iron.

The family-owned business, now in its fifth generation, has expanded in the last century from basic cast iron cookware to product innovations that are now standard, such as cast iron cookware seasoned during production and, most recently, the first U.S-made enamel cast iron, produced at the company’s foundry in South Pittsburg.

The past year has been a busy one for Lodge with several new initiatives. Along with introducing the USA Enamel cast iron cookware line, it also debuted a line of Yellowstone-branded products and ventured into the culinary world with a launch of cornbread mixes and sear blends made for cooking in cast iron. Four varieties each of Lodge Skillet Cornbread Mixes and Lodge Sear Blends were developed in partnership with the spice company Old World Spice.

Mike Otterman was named president and CEO of Lodge Cast Iron in 2019. He is the first non-family member to run the company and has more than 25 years of experience in the housewares industry. HomePage News talked with Otterman about Lodge’s new initiatives, including the U.S.-produced colored enamel cast iron, the Yellowstone line and his plans for the company.

HomePage News: The USA enamel collection is the first-ever colored enamel collection made in the USA. Why did you decide to begin manufacturing the product line in the U.S.?

Mike Otterman: Lodge has been dreaming of enamel manufacturing in South Pittsburg, TN, for years, but we were always chasing growth in seasoned cast iron. With the recent expansion of our foundry operations, it provided us with the capacity to make USA Enamel a reality.

HPN: What advantages does it give you over other colored enamel cast iron suppliers? 

MO: We focused on a beautiful representation of the Lodge brand and a product solution that appeals to a new generation of entertaining and culinary enthusiasts. A graceful silhouette, high-impact accents, bold colors, a very functional design —  all underpinned by great Lodge cast iron.

HPN: Please describe the planned retail rollout for the collection. Which channels will it be sold through and when will it be on store shelves?

MO: Lodge USA Enamel is rolling out to premium retailers this holiday season, including Williams-Sonoma, Dillard’s, Crate & Barrel and many other specialty housewares retailers.

HPN: What do you plan next for the line in terms of marketing and product development? Do you plan to increase the color offerings from the current red, white and blue initially introduced?

MO: Lodge believes strongly in the universal beauty of our current color palette and will be focused on building out additional shapes and sizes in the future.

HPN: In 2005, Lodge introduced Essential Enamel, a line of porcelain-enameled cast iron cookware that is imported. Apart from production origin, what is the difference between the Essential Enamel and USA Enamel lines?

MO: Our Essential Enamel line provides both function and value to home chefs. The elevated USA Enamel assortment combines exceptional styling and depth of color, making for gorgeous oven-to-table presentation along with the consistency of USA-made craftsmanship and iron manufacturing.

HPN: How long did it take to create the enameling facility, and is it part of one of your foundries or a separate facility?

MO: This was a labor of love and time. We began the USA manufacturing build pre-COVID and battled quarantines and supply chain challenges to begin production early this year.

HPN: At The Inspired Home Show last March, Lodge introduced a line of products with the Yellowstone brand in conjunction with the TV show. Why did you partner with the brand?

MO: In a word: Authenticity. The Yellowstone ranch (on the TV show) cooked on Lodge cast iron both in the kitchen and at the campsite multiple times in the early seasons. Given the 1896 heritage of Lodge and the multi-generational story of Yellowstone, it made for a perfect co-branded partnership.

HPN: How has the partnership benefited Lodge?

MO: The excitement behind the Yellowstone franchise has introduced Lodge to many new consumers.

HPN: Do you plan to expand the Yellowstone line?

MO: We have a strong assortment of nearly a dozen items that will continue to be marketed into 2024 and beyond, but we are always considering fresh new Yellowstone designs.

HPN: Are you considering other co-branded licensing partnerships?

MO: Our focus remains on the Lodge name and any potential future partnerships would have to deliver the same authenticity and heritage that comes from well-seasoned cast iron.

HPN: What was your vision for Lodge when you joined the company five years ago? How has it evolved from when you first arrived?

MO: Lodge has made world-class cast iron for generations. The opportunity from day one was to protect our values while introducing the Lodge name and the benefits of cooking on cast iron to more people.

HPN: How is Lodge evolving its overall marketing strategy: leveraging a legacy U.S. brand so it appeals not only to longtime die-hard users but also to a new generation of home and outdoor cooks?

MO: Lodge cookware has tremendous passion from both indoor and outdoor cooks. The heat retention of cast iron, the chemical-free, easy-release surface, the sustainable nature of cast iron production and the lifetime durability of the cookware have tremendous appeal to all consumers.

HPN: What is your vision for the company over the next decade?

MO: The oldest method of cookware production is the most relevant surface for today’s world. Food tastes better cooked in iron and the surface is all natural — our job is to introduce the benefits of seasoned cast iron to more people and help them have a great experience cooking in their skillet the first time.