What Makes a Smart Kitchen Really Smart?
Smart kitchen tech has gotten a bad rap lately, and maybe for good reason. We see a lot of products that release feature after feature, get a firestorm of press, offer bold promises of how the product will change your life — yet they don’t make food any easier to make or better tasting. If the “smart kitchen” doesn’t improve the experience, then we’re just selling technology for the sake of technology.
This is why I have been so impressed with the approach taken by our portfolio company Teforia. In developing the company’s second intelligent tea infuser, Allen Han, CEO, and the Teforia team decided to buck the food tech trend — instead of smarter, make it simpler. Instead of a luxury product, make it an everyday product. Leverage technology to design for taste. That is, focus on what customers really want.
While the company’s first offering, the Teforia Classic, offered complex technology coupled with an interactive app experience, Allen and team discovered it had a somewhat steep learning curve and felt inaccessible to buyers due to its high price point.
Taking this feedback to heart, the team set out to develop a simpler device. While keeping the Classic available for the die-hard tea enthusiasts, this new product would be designed for a more casual tea drinker looking for a cheaper, easier to use version. These customers weren’t looking to become tea experts — they just wanted the perfect cup of tea. Today, the Teforia Leaf debuts with these customers in mind.
With the Leaf, the primary goal is a simpler interface that is intuitive for first-time users. Additionally, the Leaf offers a subscription service for its tea containers called “Sips,” to increase affordability and make it easier for the at-home tea drinker to enjoy perfect tea.
With Sips, simply grab your favorite tea, scan the container, and pour into the infusion globe. Then the Leaf does all the work to brew the perfect tea for each varietal. For example, my favorite, the Chamomile Pure, requires a different water temperature and brew time than a Masala Chai.
The Leaf makes a perfect cup of tea, every single time. This is something no other technology, and very few humans — outside of the world’s renowned tea masters — can do. Plus, it’s simple and more affordable, at only $399 as compared to the Classic’s $999.
Tea making is an incredibly complex and delicate process, but people don’t buy smart products to become experts — they buy them to make a complicated process simple. This is what I look for in smart kitchen technology. Not a product over-loaded with technology, but one which simplifies the process and enhances the experience.
Check out Teforia’s newest product, the Teforia Leaf!
