To stand out in the competitive toaster and kettle market, which is increasingly about appearance and the ‘accessorising’ of benchtops, Russell Hobbs has chosen to use colour in a different way, extending its Colour Control range.
The breakfast set will be available in October 2014 and joins the to the Colour Control food prep appliances that were launched for Mother’s Day 2014, which feature a colour changing light strip designed to simplify the use of the appliance.
For example, the light strip on the Colour Control Toaster (20170AU, RRP $79.95) changes colour as each 25 per cent period of cooking time elapses, beginning with just starting (blue), half way there (purple), almost done (red) and toast ready (green).
The Colour Control Kettle (20160AU, $119) orders the colours differently: blue at 70 degrees, green at 80 degrees, purple at 90 degrees and red at 100 degrees. This is a useful feature for people wanting to make green tea; just stop the kettle when it turns green. The light strip changes colour as the water cools down and turns off after about five minutes, when the water is below 70 degrees.
The 1.7- litre kettle also has a quiet boil, perfect pour spout and dual water windows.
“In a competitive kettle and toaster market, Russell Hobbs has identified the need for differentiation on the shelf. The Colour Control 2-Slice Toaster brings market leading innovation with its Faster Toasting Technology,” said Monika Kamienowska Spectrum Brands product manager, home appliances.
Despite the novel colour strip the best sales pitch for the toaster could be the speed at which it toasts.
“Russell Hobbs research has shown that 83 per cent of consumers feel their toaster takes too long to toast, 94 per cent would like a way to cook bread quicker and 76 per cent would be willing to pay more for faster toasting. As a result, a unique and specifically engineered heating element has been developed for more advanced heating which enables the Colour Control Toaster to cook up to 51 per cent faster,” Kamienowska said.
As well as speedy toasting the Colour Control Toaster has the usual controls for reheat, defrost, and cancel, as well as a high lift function.
The existing Colour Control Collection includes a blender (20230AU, RRP $99.95), Multi Processor (20240AU RRP $149) and 3-in-1 Stick Mixer (20220AU, RRP $99.95).
Jean Foo, Spectrum Brands product manager – food prep and cooking, explains the research that went into developing the Colour Control food prep range:
When developing this range, the Russell Hobbs team did extensive research to understand how consumers use their food preparation products as well as the recipes they most commonly use them for.
One of the key learnings from this research was that many consumers found food preparation products to be quite complicated and often only knew one or two uses for each appliance. Our results found that the most popular uses for different food preparation products are as follows;
• Blenders are used to make soup, smoothies, purees and for ice crushing.
• Food processors are used for cakes, soups, chopping/grating vegetables and purees
• Stick mixers are used to make soups, smoothies, purees and for whipping eggs/creamFrom this research we developed a range of products that simplify the features of food preparation products and help consumers best utilise their appliances in the kitchen.
Every product in the Colour Control range is designed for ease of use by taking the guess work out of speed and function selection. The optimal number of speeds has been created to correspond to a specific food type. The products display this in a clever and unique way with a “light ring” that illuminates and changes colour according to the speed selected.
