inventing
Why Make Products In The USA? Why Not!
I was interviewed recently by a home furnishing publication recently and one of the questions asked was, “Why do you manufacture your products in the United States?” After thinking for a moment as to the best way to answer I decided to give both an answer and a question. “We manufacture our products in the USA because we think it is the right thing to do. It creates jobs for our economy. It helps us to innovate other new products since we are fully integrated with the manufacturing process. It is not just about how to maximize our bottom line – that is not all that business is about.”
Then I went on to ask my question. “Why NOT manufacture products here in the USA?” “There are benefits! We can utilize a Just In Time warehouse and production area allowing us to turn over our inventory many times per year. We can build closer relationships with our suppliers who for the most part are within a 100 mile radius. We can innovate and make running changes very very quickly. It is easy for our customers to get all the answers they need because it is our tight group of employees that designs, manufactures, processes, ships and answers the phone – yes we answer the phone!”
After the interview was over I went to check on my son who was playing with his legos putting the blocks together in different fun configurations. Thinking about the interview I smiled and realized that I forgot a very key answer! Manufacturing products in the USA is fun!
Al Contarino
President & Co-Founder
KettlePizza
PS If you didn’t get a chance to watch the ABC News Channel 5 visit to KettlePizza headquarters you can check it out here!
New Product Coming From KettlePizza June 5, 2016
We are pretty excited to release a brand new product to our offering on June 5, 2016. We can’t tell you what it is, but we can share a picture and some hints. Hint #1: it is used for cooking pizza! Big surprise right. Hint #2: it is made of the best American Made stainless steel. Any guesses what it is?
Our Quest for Made in USA Products – Still Going Strong!
We just dropped another Made in China vendor. Our wooden pizza peels are now proudly made in Wisconsin USA! We may not be able to meet the labor rates for Chinese workers but we can make that up with efficiency and automation. Our peels are now made on a CNC router where a computer driven router cuts out each pizza peel exactly the same. Our cost is a little bit more than the Chinese peels but that is fine with us if it creates a few more American jobs. That is just doing our part for America.
KettlePizza Announces Worldwide Shipping Through Amazon.com
This week KettlePizza, a division of AFC-Lancer1, announced that they will expand their shipments worldwide through Amazon.com. So far the company has shipped to 15 countries including Australia, Thailand, UK, New Zealand and Greece. Even through shipping is somewhat costly, people are willing to pay the amount so they can receive a high quality, Made in USA product. “In the near future we hope to have a network of qualified international distributors so that we can lower shipping costs through volume ordering. I look forward to getting our products into more peoples’ hands around the world!” said Al Contarino, the KettlePizza inventor.
Companies interested in becoming distributors of KettlePizza can contact George Peters at george@afclancer1.com.
New Product Announcement – KettlePizza Spinners
The days of using curtain rods, sticks, peels or spatulas to turn your pizza during the cooking process are over! KettlePizza Spinners allow you to easily spin pizzas as they are cooking inside the KettlePizza oven. Also great for popping the cheese bubbles as a pizza cooks. Two stainless steel spinners are included in each set. Stainless steel construction for durability and soft vinyl handles facilitate easy handling. Made in USA. Model number KPS-10, retail price $19.95. Currently available on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057XRORW
KettlePizza Pro Peel now available for sale
When I went searching for a “Made in USA” pizza peel to supply with the KettlePizza I was very disappointed. Almost all of the peels are made in China and many of them are not very high quality. To make matters worse, the pricing of the Chinese products seem to be going up every month. I decided to go it alone and design my own peel. This new product is made of 0.100″ 5052 aluminum with teak handles. This product is built to last and people will enjoy the integrated bottle opener for quick opening of your favorite beverage. The KettlePizza Pro Peel is now available for purchase. Retail price is $39.95 and they are available at our corporate store http://www.afclancer1store.com/kettlepizza.html and on Ebay.
Video released of KettlePizza with Weber Performer charcoal grill
The Weber Performer and KettlePizza insert is a killer combination for outdoor pizza. This combo, which retails under $500, will compete head to head with professional grade outdoor pizza ovens that cost ten times the price. This video shows the combination in use.
Finally Cooked on the Weber Performer – Awesome Machine!
I finally got to try out my Weber Performer grill with the KettlePizza SS insert on it. This thing is a pizza cooking machine! The performer has a small “Coleman type” propane tank to help get the charcoal up to temp faster. It worked just as advertised and it took about 10-15 minutes to get the charcoal where I wanted it. Then I pushed the coals to the rear of the kettle to get the heat circulating up from the rear of the grill. I used my newly manufactured Pro Pizza Peel to push the coals back. I then added some hardwood on top of the coals for extra heat and added the KettlePizza insert and lid. Soon afterwards I was cooking some serious pizzas!
I cooked pizzas both on a stone and on a pan. I had to give the stone about 30 minutes to really get to temperature. I like to use a pan for pizzas if they have lots of toppings as those type pizzas don’t slide off the peels as easy. Aside from some great tasting pizza (OK truth be told I did burn two but it still tasted good), I was really excited to use my newly designed and manufactured Pro Pizza Peel. This thing is as heavy-duty a pizza peel as you can get. The 0.100″ aluminum was super strong, yet light and the pizza slid off great!
I’ll cook on the performer again soon and get some more pictures.
The Ulimate Pizza Oven & Grill For Under $500
OK. That is a huge statement that I am making, but, I really believe that this setup will give people a charcoal grilling machine that has the ability to cook amazing pizza. Pictured here is a Weber Performer grill ($329.00 on Amazon) with the KettlePizza basic package installed ($99.00). Hanging from the tool hook is a KettlePizza Pro Pizza Peel ($39.00 – available soon) and inside the KettlePizza opening is a 15″ aluminum pizza pan (included in KettlePizza kit). Total cost – $467.00.
This combination gives you the ability to make your pizzas right on the attached table next to the kettle! The Weber Performer also has the added feature of a gas startup burner to get the charcoal or wood up to temperature fast. Did I say that all these products are Made in USA! In the next few days I’ll cook some pizzas with this setup and report on how things come out!
KettleCookies Anyone???
Yes you read that right. We cooked some chocolate chip cookies on the new stainless KettlePizza this week. Since the temperature remains fairly constant in the chamber baking like this is easy!
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