CHICAGO— Lifetime Brands will debut its new West Blade technology, which is featured in a new line of graters and zesters. The company will debut the kitchen tools at the International Home + Housewares Show, here.
According to the company, West Blade technology features layers of recessed blades that allow consumers to grate in both directions. The company also stated that the new culinary tools are designed to glide through soft and hard foods and will help to reduce time spent on food preparation.
“The West Blade technology brings innovation to a category that has remained relatively unchanged for over 20 years. Bi-directional, tine-less grating is almost effortless while creating a very unique and food specific yield,” said Jim Wells, president, kitchenwares, Lifetime Brands.
The new West Blade kitchen tools include small flake and large flake hand graters, rotary grater, box grater and zester.
Wells stated that the company worked with outside inventors to develop the West Blade technology and all of the tools will initially be sold exclusively at Williams-Sonoma in 2017 and then will be available to additional retailers in 2018.
“We brought the West Blade technology in from outside inventors and then spent about two years refining and perfecting it before launching. Williams-Sonoma is the ideal partner for industry changing launches like the West Blade technology. Its commitment to bringing meaningful, technological evolution to the marketplace is well known,” added Wells.
Lifetime Brands also noted that it worked with sous chef and inventor Ben Willis and housewares designer Joe Dieter to develop the technology.
Willis had been searching for a tool to zest citrus for an entire menu and developed a bi-directional grater that he said cut prep time from 45 minutes down to five. He and Dieter then teamed up with Lifetime Brands to bring the tools’ speed and convenience to home chefs.
The West Blade small flake hand grater and large flake hand grater feature bi-directional grating surfaces and ultra-sharp, stainless steel etched blades. Lifetime said that food glides over the blades in order to help the consumer shave hard cheese, chocolate, coconut, and other soft produce, as well as creating delicate flakes of chocolate.
In addition, the graters have soft touch, non-slip handles to provide a comfortable grip and each grater comes with a food pusher/hand guard and protective blade cover for safe storage. The graters have a suggested retail price of $19.95 each.
Lifetime Brands’ new West Blade rotary grater shreds soft foods like mozzarella cheese and hard boiled eggs, in addition to hard cheeses and chocolate.
The rotary grater comes with two interchangeable grating barrels: a coarse shredder blade, ideal for soft cheese, and a medium flake blade for shaving hard cheese or making chocolate curls.
In addition, its gearing system operates with a smooth, easy-turning motion that Lifetime stated provides fast and effortless grating with maximum output. It has an SRP of $49.95.
The new box grater features ultra-sharp stainless steel etched blades and includes four total grating surfaces: three with West Blade technology for small flake, large flake, and coarse grating, and one traditional coarse grating blade for vegetables.
In addition, the box grater’s ergonomically designed soft-touch handle provides an easy hold, while the non-slip base helps keep the grater in place while the user works. It also has an SRP of $49.95.
As for the new West Blade zester, it is designed to create fragrant, flavorful zest, even from the surface of a citrus peel bitter pith, which consumers have often avoided when zesting.
The West Blade zester is also ideal for finely grating ginger, garlic, nutmeg, and other ingredients. It features ultra-sharp stainless steel etched blades for what Lifetime said is speed and efficiency.
The zester also has a soft-touch, non-slip handle that provides a comfortable grip and comes with a protective cover. It has an SRP of $19.95.
