Small Kitchen Appliances Gaining Popularity, Used Even by 'Heukbaek Yori-sa'

SmartKara Hosts Cooking Class with 'Napoli Mappia'
Shark Ninja Chefs Present New Dishes
Chungho Nais Differentiates 'Water Taste' with Water Purifiers

The collaboration between small kitchen appliances and chefs continues. The strategy focuses on so-called ‘Heukbaek Chef’ marketing to enhance corporate image and awareness.

Small Kitchen Appliances Gaining Popularity, Used Even by 'Heukbaek Yori-sa'

Food waste processor company Smart Cara will hold a cooking class on the 14th of next month with Chef Kwon Seong-jun of 'Napoli Mafia,' the winner of 'Black and White Chef.' Photo by Smart Cara

According to industry sources on the 29th, Smart Cara, a manufacturer of food waste disposers, will hold a cooking class with Chef Kwon Seong-jun of ‘Napoli Mafia,’ the winner of the Netflix cooking competition show Heukbaek Chef, on the 14th of next month.

In the cooking class, Chef Kwon will serve as the lecturer and present dishes under the theme ‘Romantic Year-end Dinner.’ Afterwards, participants will practice cooking and then experience disposing of leftover food waste using Smart Cara’s new product, the ‘BladeX.’ The BladeX is a 5ℓ large-capacity model that can handle hard byproducts such as chicken bones and crab shells when using the powerful mode. A Smart Cara representative explained, “It is meaningful as it provides an opportunity to meet the best in the food waste disposer industry and the best in the culinary industry in one place,” adding, “We planned the cooking class to strengthen brand loyalty.”

SharkNinja unveiled its new product, the ‘Ninja Combi All-in-One Multi Cooker,’ the day before, inviting two chefs who appeared on Heukbaek Chef alongside Chef Kwon: ‘Business Genius Boss’ Chef Jo Seo-hyung and Chef Kwon himself, to hold a launch event. The Ninja Combi features proprietary cooker technology that allows two completely different recipes to be completed simultaneously in just 15 minutes, excluding preheating time. Chef Kwon used the Ninja Combi’s steam and air fryer functions to prepare seasonal fish steak on the top and a stew using various clams on the bottom. Chef Jo cooked perilla seed soup and seasoned grilled chicken using the Ninja Combi.

Chungho Nais also partnered with Chef Park Jun-woo, who appeared on Heukbaek Chef, to showcase mushroom soup, port wine jelly chicken mousse, and raspberry tiramisu styled to match the three signature colors of their water purifier ‘New Lovely Tree.’ The recipes were produced as videos and released on Chungho Nais’s YouTube channel. Chef Park said, “The most important thing in cooking is the taste of water,” and even created an acrostic poem with the word ‘water taste.’ He also highlighted key points such as the New Lovely Tree water purifier’s ability to finely adjust cold water temperature settings from levels 1 to 4, and the range from 45°C lukewarm water to 100°C ultra-hot water during the cooking process.

This marketing approach is interpreted as an effort to enhance brand image and awareness by leveraging the popularity of Heukbaek Chef. According to the curated shop 29CM, kitchen appliance transaction volume increased by 467% year-on-year during the one-month period from September 17, when Heukbaek Chef started, to October 16. An industry insider said, “Marketing using Heukbaek Chef is expected to help products settle stably in the market and lead to increased sales.”