Folding Chopping Board - Is this something you'd be interested in?

dvlpacheco

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Hi guys!

New poster and excited to be here. Full disclaimer: I checked if this was allowed with the mods first and it's ok!

Basically, I’m a student in my final year of my business degree and one of my units involves going through the process of creating a business from start to finish. Part of this involves thinking of a product idea, and then validating it to make sure it’s something people actually would want before moving to the next stage of actually building it.

The product idea I had is a folding chopping board. Similar to the Chop2Pot from Joseph and Joseph have which some of you might be familiar with or even have:

joseph_and_joseph.PNG


They make a bamboo version which I use all the time since I hate chopping vegetables and having them fall off the board when trying to put them in the pan.

I don't own the plastic one but based on some reviews some people have problems with it - occasionally the handle would snap off, or the board wouldn't lay flat. Not sure if anyone here has it and has had similar problems. It's also plastic which I don't like since I prefer wood or bamboo. The bamboo version I own doesn't have a handle and doesn't fold up to store.

So I thought, improving on this would be a great idea since it's something I already have and love. The idea is a bamboo cutting board which folds up for easy storage, has a handle which doesn't snap off and is fairly sizable (since I always find mine is not big enough!). I found a supplier that makes something very similar to what I would want (I've attached pictures showing what it looks like, no links since I am not advertising). I love this board since it looks nice (I have a sample on the way to test it's quality). Doesn't have to be used in the kitchen too, with the handle it can also be used on camping trips to serve food, folding away easily when you don't need it.!

Board.jpg
Board_Folded.jpg
Board_Veggies.jpg


So I wanted to ask you guys:

1. Is this something you'd be interested in?

2. If so is there something else you've always wanted from something like this that doesn't exist?

3. What would you pay for something like this? To make this easier, the dimensions of the particular model above are 39.8 x 20.5 x 1cm (15.7 x 8 x 0.4 inches)

The main purpose of this is to find out if it it's a dud because if it is, I won’t be wasting my time and can find something else to make for this. I should note that the unit doesn't recommend we make new revolutionary products (which would be impossible for the course timeframe) but rather look to make small improvements to what is already out there - just for the purposes of time. Appreciate the help :)
 
I found a supplier that makes something very similar to what I would want (I've attached pictures showing what it looks like, no links since I am not advertising). I love this board since it looks nice (I have a sample on the way to test it's quality).

What I don't quite understand here is if someone already makes this item and it works, how are you going to improve on it?

But in answer to your question, I would be interested, especially as I have small kitchen. I also like the fact that by partially folding the board you can slide the chopped things off, straight into a pan. What would I pay? Maybe £20.
 
As a chef working in a professional kitchen, no. Not sure what is holding the 2 pieces of wood together, it appears to be some kind of adhesive, regardless, it just wouldn't take the punishment. For home use, personally I find a cutting board with a seam down the middle very distracting, how would it react to pressure, would you have to be mindful when you picked it up, will it survive repeated dishwasher use or using solvents like bleach, will between the boards get clogged with material inadvertently causing damage to the hinge , how will repeated opening and closing effect the integrity of the material of the hinge. Personally I like a board that I can use both sides. That's a lot to consider when a flat piece of board or plastic eliminates most of those concerns. Cutting boards can last decades, but with a hinge, I just wouldn't be a consumer, sorry. The extended handle which you believe is of value can be a hinderance for smaller spaces or countertops, personally I'd rather see the length taken up by more cutting area or have it more compact without the handle, but that's just the chef in me talking, but people love their gadgets and convenience, and will pay I'm sure
 
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Hi guys!

New poster and excited to be here. Full disclaimer: I checked if this was allowed with the mods first and it's ok!

Basically, I’m a student in my final year of my business degree and one of my units involves going through the process of creating a business from start to finish. Part of this involves thinking of a product idea, and then validating it to make sure it’s something people actually would want before moving to the next stage of actually building it.

The product idea I had is a folding chopping board. Similar to the Chop2Pot from Joseph and Joseph have which some of you might be familiar with or even have:

View attachment 71004

They make a bamboo version which I use all the time since I hate chopping vegetables and having them fall off the board when trying to put them in the pan.

I don't own the plastic one but based on some reviews some people have problems with it - occasionally the handle would snap off, or the board wouldn't lay flat. Not sure if anyone here has it and has had similar problems. It's also plastic which I don't like since I prefer wood or bamboo. The bamboo version I own doesn't have a handle and doesn't fold up to store.

So I thought, improving on this would be a great idea since it's something I already have and love. The idea is a bamboo cutting board which folds up for easy storage, has a handle which doesn't snap off and is fairly sizable (since I always find mine is not big enough!). I found a supplier that makes something very similar to what I would want (I've attached pictures showing what it looks like, no links since I am not advertising). I love this board since it looks nice (I have a sample on the way to test it's quality). Doesn't have to be used in the kitchen too, with the handle it can also be used on camping trips to serve food, folding away easily when you don't need it.!

View attachment 71005View attachment 71006View attachment 71007

So I wanted to ask you guys:

1. Is this something you'd be interested in?

2. If so is there something else you've always wanted from something like this that doesn't exist?

3. What would you pay for something like this? To make this easier, the dimensions of the particular model above are 39.8 x 20.5 x 1cm (15.7 x 8 x 0.4 inches)

The main purpose of this is to find out if it it's a dud because if it is, I won’t be wasting my time and can find something else to make for this. I should note that the unit doesn't recommend we make new revolutionary products (which would be impossible for the course timeframe) but rather look to make small improvements to what is already out there - just for the purposes of time. Appreciate the help :)
From a patent perspective it's not patentable.
From a trade protection perspective, a copy will be on AliExpress within a month and it'll be selling for $5 + free shipping globally.

What need, or problem is this addressing?
What technique/approach did you take to verify that there demand for a collapsible chopping board? and what were the results? Is this post part of your approach? This site may have voting capabilities? have you tried reedit?
 
What I don't quite understand here is if someone already makes this item and it works, how are you going to improve on it?

But in answer to your question, I would be interested, especially as I have small kitchen. I also like the fact that by partially folding the board you can slide the chopped things off, straight into a pan. What would I pay? Maybe £20.

Great question - this supplier only sells wholesale and I wasn't able to actually buy it anywhere as a one off item from anywhere else. If the sample that arrives is great quality, I may use this supplier and negotiate with them for some small changes if required (for instance, adding holes to allow it to hang). Otherwise, I can look for alternative suppliers with the capability that have the quality I want.
 
From a patent perspective it's not patentable.
From a trade protection perspective, a copy will be on AliExpress within a month and it'll be selling for $5 + free shipping globally.

What need, or problem is this addressing?
What technique/approach did you take to verify that there demand for a collapsible chopping board? and what were the results? Is this post part of your approach? This site may have voting capabilities? have you tried reedit?

I don't really intend to patent it. Also, this supplier sells wholesale and I haven't seen it anywhere on Aliexpress so far.

Main problem it is addressing is quite simple - I hate chopping vegetables and having them fall off the board when scooping them into the pan. I have a version of this at home which I use - when the sample arrives I want to test if it is more functional than the one I already have (particularly the use of the handle - the one I have doesn't have a handle).

I looked at the demand for similar products - the Joseph and Joseph foldable chopping boards on Amazon. There is quite a bit of demand for them based on the number of reviews (which if you assume 1% of purchasers leave a comment and 5% of purchasers leave a star rating, you can calculate approximately the number of units sold. I looked at the 1-4 star reviews seeing what people wished the board had before my search. And yes, this post is also part of that verification process that the demand is there.

I haven't tried reddit yet, no. And Morning Glory did mention a poll section on the site - I wanted to post this first but I may also do a poll!
 
As a chef working in a professional kitchen, no. Not sure what is holding the 2 pieces of wood together, it appears to be some kind of adhesive, regardless, it just wouldn't take the punishment. For home use, personally I find a cutting board with a seam down the middle very distracting, how would it react to pressure, would you have to be mindful when you picked it up, will it survive repeated dishwasher use or using solvents like bleach, will between the boards get clogged with material inadvertently causing damage to the hinge , how will repeated opening and closing effect the integrity of the material of the hinge. Personally I like a board that I can use both sides. That's a lot to consider when a flat piece of board or plastic eliminates most of those concerns. Cutting boards can last decades, but with a hinge, I just wouldn't be a consumer, sorry. The extended handle which you believe is of value can be a hinderance for smaller spaces or countertops, personally I'd rather see the length taken up by more cutting area or have it more compact without the handle, but that's just the chef in me talking, but people love their gadgets and convenience, and will pay I'm sure
Thanks for the response. That is silicone holding the wood together - I have a sample coming and would like to make sure the quality is up to par before progressing further. Actually, these are probably questions I could pass on to the supplier as they would be able to tell me...
 
I think plenty of people would find it useful, but I personally prefer a big slab of wood, no handle like that because it feels like wasted space.

If I were to buy a folding board like that, I'd want the board to have stops or whatever it would be called, that would make it want to stay open when opened and stay closed when closed; I wouldn't want it to be able to flop around. I could see that pinching my fingers and slapping open and closed as I moved it around from cabinet to counter.
 
As a professional chef, I don't much see the point as a bench scraper and regular board work well enough for me, are easy to store and no moving parts means no eventual failure.
 
For me, hygiene would be the problem. You would have to be very diligent ensuring the hinge is absolutely clean and the whole thing dry before folding it up for storage otherwise nasties might thrive in the folds.
Because it hinges it is stuck being single sided, I like to flip my boards if one side gets dirty during lots of prep, so I don't need to keep washing them down.
 
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