The Story of Lock&Lock Employees Grilling 1,000 Mackerel

LocknLock Innovation Team Interview
Leading New Challenges from Kitchen Containers to Small Appliances
Market Attention with Innovative Products like Kitchen Air Purifiers and Steam Air Fryers
Appliance Sales Soar 238.2% in Q2 Thanks to Innovative Product Success

Youngmo Lee, Manager of Lock&Lock Innovation Team (from left), Woonghee Lee, Team Leader, and Jayeon Lee, Staff, are posing with products (Steam Air Fryer (left), Kitchen Purifier (right)) in the LAB LL cooking laboratory.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] “I usually enjoy cooking and do it often, but I have only grilled mackerel at home a few times. When I counted the mackerel grilled at the company, it was roughly about 1,000 fish. Later, I felt self-conscious on the subway on my way home, so I got a protective suit and wore it while grilling mackerel, dedicating myself to the experiment. (laughs)”

Inside the Gangnam headquarters of Lock&Lock, a household goods company, there is a special space. At first glance, it looks like a large kitchen, but right across from it are various tools and experimental machines lined up. There is also a space dedicated to testing noise and vibration. Leading Lock&Lock’s efforts to transform from kitchenware to small home appliances is the Innovation Team, which owns this space. Lee Woonghee, head of Lock&Lock’s Innovation Team, said, “As a leader in food storage containers, we are challenging the small home appliance industry by focusing on developing innovative products that differentiate us from other products. When developing the kitchen air purifier, we grilled 1,000 mackerel, and when developing the steam air fryer, we cooked 1,000 packs of dumplings, conducting various experiments focusing on the inconveniences customers might feel in real life.”

The Innovation Team focused on identifying what is necessary to alleviate the inconveniences customers feel in the kitchen space as much as possible. The team leader, who enjoys cooking, said that while grilling meat at home, he turned on an air purifier to remove the enormous amount of smoke, but after reading the manual stating it was not to be used during cooking due to concerns about filter damage from oil vapor, he started developing an air purifier needed for the kitchen. He explained, “We put a lot of effort into finding a filter optimized for the kitchen. The typical HEPA filters used in general air purifiers are not suitable for the humid kitchen environment, so we went through many trials and errors. After countless experiments and tests, we maximized performance in the kitchen by installing a zero-dust dust collection filter resistant to moisture, an oil barrier grease filter optimized for absorbing oil vapor, and a carbon colgate filter with harmful gas removal and deodorizing performance all in one.” In fact, Lock&Lock’s kitchen air purifier, Kitchen Puree, has been praised by users for its hygienic and convenient features, with a semi-permanent grease filter and dust collection filter that can be easily separated and washed with water.

Lee Woong-hee, head of the Innovation Team leading the development of small home appliances at Lock&Lock, explained, "When people think of innovation, they often imagine grand advanced technology or science, but our team's goal is to develop products that did not previously exist, enabling consumers to use them conveniently."

The spirit of exploring taste also led directly to product development. Lee Youngmo, a manager in charge of product design in the Innovation Team, was known as a dumpling enthusiast even within the company. He suggested applying a steam function to the air fryer to cook dumplings with a crispy exterior and moist interior and then personally took on the product development. He said, “I disliked how the surface of dumplings became hard when cooked in a regular air fryer, so after much thought, I came up with the idea of applying a steam function to the air fryer. To replicate the crispy outside and moist inside texture of famous dumpling restaurants, we succeeded in developing technology that steams the ingredients to keep them moist and then bakes them in the air fryer by cooking hundreds of packs of dumplings.” The development was not without challenges. They faced difficulties developing the steam nozzle for the air fryer. Lee explained, “We searched for materials that consumers could use conveniently and safely, and focused on heat-resistant PPS material, which we applied to the steam nozzle production.” This reduced the product’s weight and made cleaning easier.

The Innovation Team is composed of members from various majors to discover innovative ideas. The team leader, who majored in chemical engineering and industrial design in college, completed a master’s degree in industrial design in the UK after graduation and worked in consulting firms handling service design and product planning. He said, “Our team consists of 10 members with diverse majors including display engineering, mechanical design, strategy, and diplomacy. We focus on discovering new customer value and developing innovative products by gathering various opinions through collective intelligence.”

Noting the difficulty of using conventional air purifiers in kitchens, the Innovation Team developed the kitchen air purifier 'Kitchen Puri.' The Innovation Team explained that they grilled nearly 1,000 mackerel to test the optimal filter and air purification functions. Photo by Lock&Lock

Thanks to the Innovation Team’s efforts, Lock&Lock’s small home appliance sales in the second quarter grew by 238.2% compared to the same period last year. Lee Jayeon, the youngest member of the team, said, “We monitor reviews of our products on Instagram and other social media, naturally observing what products customers need and collecting their opinions,” emphasizing that consumer needs for new product development are more important than achievements. The team leader stated, “When people think of innovation, they usually imagine grand advanced technology or science, but our goal is to develop products that consumers can use conveniently, which did not exist before. We plan to devote ourselves to research and development across the four main categories: cookware, beverage ware, food storage containers, and more.”