The Barista Series

The Problem

Space is a hot commodity in virtually every kitchen and consumers want creative ways to consolidate, organize or otherwise reclaim any usable space for storage. Kitchen appliances and storage containers and other we all enjoy, take up counter and shelf space. In addition to the appliance itself (using coffee for this example), there are the raw goods and the condiments that go into making that perfect cup of coffee or tea, which also need their own space. These consumables have to be stored somewhere between each use.

In addition to the space considerations, today's consumer values time, simplicity, and they really want to make everything easier, more convenient and find more enjoyment-in-use.

The Solution

For these reasons and others, which will become apparent to those who regularly brew coffee or regularly need to store and dispense virtually any other dry flowable product, the Barista Series will be a highly desirable appliance.

Product Description and Benefits

The Barista Series streamlines the preparation process while reclaiming counter and storage space to use for another purpose. In addition to saving time, saving steps, pure convenience and the joy-in-use, the Barista will dispense the desired, coffee, tea, infant formula, health food, protein drink, etc. without the inevitable aggravation of spilling product onto the countertop or getting product onto the hands just to have to wash it down the drain.

The storage and dispensing concept presented here apply across all market segments. We will use coffee for this description and illustration because it is likely most familiar to everyone. TouchThought will modify the Barista's cosmetics and packaging to fit each application and market need. TouchThought will also provide private labels for the Barista with names designed for each market segment and/or licensee. For the coffee market, we will call the invention the Barista and Sidecar.

I risk turning my reader off with just the mention of a time-and-motion analysis of such an elementary task as dispensing a powdered or granular flowable like coffee, dry infant formula, dry mix cereal, powdered green drinks, health food supplement powders, protein powders, bodybuilding powders, etc. We however embrace the fact that, whether a task is simple or complex, if it is repetitive- overtime it can represent significant waste of time with the multiple steps involved.

Using coffee in this example: Compare sixteen steps involving the maneuvers and ergonomics of preparing a simple cup of coffee to eight the steps involved when using the Barista.


Eight steps using the Caddie


The Barista and the appurtenance called the side car(s) provide coffee lovers with exceptional convenience for both storing and dispensing ground coffee or coffee beans, the coffee filters and the condiments commonly associated with preparing coffee for consumption. Additionally, the Barista will elegantly make use of space previously considered unusable or unavailable.

Standards for typical cabinet construction require a horizontal faceplate run the length of the bottom of the cabinet and extend downward beneath the bottom shelf, which by the nature of its construction forms a hollow or cavity. The actual depth of the cavity varies between manufactures and custom cabinetmakers but for most construction is 1 to 2 inches deep.

Retailers will be able to offer the Barista Series in Single Container or Multiple Container configurations. The Barista Series stores and dispenses the ground coffee directly into the wire mesh or paper filter ready for brewing. A very important component to great taste is freshness. The Barista container seals upon closure to keep air and vermin out and freshness in.

The Sidecar(s) conveniently store the filters, stir sticks, sweetener packets, non-dairy creamers, cinnamon sticks, utensils, etc., and effortlessly swing down and forward from under the cabinet for easy access. The Barista and sidecar(s) mount in the users preferred position to the underside of the overhead cabinet. The placement could be directly over - or adjacent to the Coffee Maker. The appliance will attach without the use of conventional fasteners, which require drilling and damage the cabinet's underside. Command AdhesiveTM allows the consumer to reposition the Barista at will.

Initially TouchThought will offer the Single Bay version, designed to address the broadest segment of the market. The lifeblood of every company is the ability to expand and release new products. Over time other versions as described below will be released to address specific needs and taste of distinctly different markets, which we will refer to as the "Wal-Mart" and "William Sonoma" and those in between.

Barista Models

Single-Bay

Stores, measures and dispenses 40 oz. (complete contents of a traditional big can of Maxwell House, Folgers etc.) of a single kind of coffee grind or bean for example: regular, decaffeinated, special blend.

Dual-Bay

Side-by-side. A split chamber will store, measure and dispense 20 oz. of a particular grind, blend or bean.

Tri-Bay

Each of three 16 oz. chambers individually store, measure and dispense a particular grind, blend or bean. The perfectly sized chambers receive the entire contents of standard one-pound vacuum-sealed packs typically used for specialty or their gourmet blends.

Bean dispenser with on board grinder

Single, Dual and Tri Bay configurations.
The quantity of beans desired is automatically measured and gravity fed directly into an on board grinder; after grinding the contents are immediately dispensed directly into the filter for brewing. Bio Metric Identification for brew strength and fine or course grind.

The units described above will use a dial, calibrated to dispense accurately, in one-tablespoon increments. An upscale "intelligent" version will permit the user to key in the quantity desired activating a motor which will then dispense the pre-ground or whole bean.

Compatible with all the models described above: Swing-down sidecars (side-by-side companion compartments) storing and providing easy access to brewing filters, stir sticks, sweetener packs and pre-measured creamer packets etc.

Sidecars may operate independently and purchased separately from the Barista for storing and dispensing consumables or utensils unrelated to the described applications.

Applications

TouchThought will configure the Barista for numerous markets that require convenient measured storing and dispensing of dry flowable consumables such as coffee, loose teas, powered infant formula, infant dry mix cereals, bodybuilding supplements, health food supplements or any other granular dry goods such as rolled oats, seeds, grains and raw sugars just to name few.

Raw food supplements in particular are skyrocketing in popularity due to the rapidly increasing knowledge of their health benefits and the sobering evidence of processed foods detrimental effects.

Coffee

Over the past 20 years coffee has emerged as a beverage of choice for the majority of Americans. A reported 80 percent of those over the age of 18 drink an average of 3.3 cups daily. The National Coffee Association (NCA) estimates 2004 retail coffee sales at $18.5 billion.

Today, coffee is available in a variety of blends; brewed and consumed in exotic forms like espressos, cappuccinos and lattes. Consumer's choice in coffee continues to expand as leading coffee brands and retailers try to keep pace with the evolving American taste.

Many coffee traditionalists have awakened to the gourmet coffee experience. Credit Starbucks and a host of imitators for fueling the phenomenon with more than 28 million daily gourmet drinkers. Starbucks distribute their bagged coffee through Kraft Foods at more than 16,000 supermarkets, including Wal-Mart Super centers, Costco and Sam's Club. Most food retailers now carry at least one brand of premium whole bean coffee in a variety of flavors, purchased by the bag or ground into a custom-designed package size. These trends are not limited to just the domestic market.

Tea

Exotic Teas are very much in vogue and emerging as a huge upscale market. Patrons spend hundreds of dollars a visit on numerous blends and the associated brewing, serving and storage paraphernalia. Specialty retailers Teavana is the category's leading retailer offering a broad selection of specialty and flavored loose-leaf teas and tea-related merchandise through its mall-based stores. Teavana's menu of loose tea offerings includes over 100 distinctive and authentic varieties like green tea, single estate and blended black teas, flavored and scented black teas, herbal teas, decaffeinated teas and white teas. America's 76 million baby boomers are showing increasing interest and beginning to embrace tea as a health-promoting product for the entire family. This exceptionally health-conscious demographic is exploring the specialty tea culture through brewed tea beverages and neighborhood cafÈs offering exotic teas.

Total sales of all types of tea, conventional and specialty, sold in the U.S. topped $5.1 billion in 2003 with virtually all of the volume and growth being derived from value-added, specialty teas. Forecasts for tea sales reach $10 billion by 2010. This conclusion is the projected demands of American "baby boomers" who are increasingly embracing specialty tea as their primary daily beverage because of the health benefits.

Powered Infant Formula and Dry Mix Cereals

Mothers of infants spend a lot of time measuring, mixing and preparing expensive and sometimes very messy powered formulas and dry mix cereals. The application for Caddie in the baby market is a big one! Mothers are easily the hardest working people in the world. Those who have children under a year old will appreciate (with the right marketing) that this product is more of a necessity than a convenience.

A single Vendor like Mead Johnson, Nestle, Ross Pediatrics. Wyeth Nutrition Bright Beginnings, Gerber, Similac and Envamil offer as many as 10 different formulations within their own product line. The Market exceeds $10 Billion annually.

Powered Health Food and Bodybuilding Supplements

The multi-billion dollar Health Food and Bodybuilding powdered supplement industries provides the health conscience individual and body builder with products like The Perfect Food, Muscle Milk, Creatine, Cellumas, Megamilk, Gultamine-SR, Cellmass and Smart Gainer, just to name a few. These powdered products are expensive and require a lot of space for storage. The products are no less cumbersome to dispense. They come in large 300 content grams up to 2.5-pound containers to with a scoop included. One scoop mixed with water provides the required amount for consumption. These containers to do an excellent job as retail display vehicles, providing the consumer a stable, wide base, airtight container to store the product in-between uses. In practice however, it becomes necessary to blindly, reach into the jar to "find" the measuring scoop as the product level drops significantly below the top of the container.

Several problems occur at this point. Some hands are too large to fit easily past the opening making it difficult to reach the scoop once the level has dropped below the top. Other hands, which are of a right size to fit through the opening, will inevitably get the product all over both the front and back of the hand as well as the wrist and even the lower arm, which often includes a shirtsleeve.

This is a simply unavoidable as powdered remnants cling to the sidewalls and around the containers neck not to mention digging through the product in order to find a buried scoop which is thoroughly covered in product. In addition to this aggravation, there is wasted time and cleaning supplies such as the paper towels needed virtually every time to cleanup the pricey remnants that wind up on the countertop as the scoop is withdrawn to dispense the product into the glass.