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I think you are greatly over-estimating how many people would be willing to pay the cost of a North American made toaster. This would require an absolute ton of
by starky 3y ago
I think you are greatly over-estimating how many people would be willing to pay the cost of a North American made toaster. This would require an absolute ton of capital to do it on anything above a craft scale. The challenges of design, testing, certification (very important for a device that could burn your house down), manufacturing, supply chain, and support that are all specialized careers in themselves.
I've got more than decade of experience in designing products that are built in North America. I wouldn't touch a project like this unless it had a team of people with the proven manufacturing experience heading it up and some very convincing numbers about the commercial viability of the product because I don't believe they exist. There is good reason why the market only has commercial kitchen grade devices available.
- dylan604 3y ago> I think you are greatly over-estimating how many people would be willing to pay the cost of a North American made toaster. Who wants a $75+ toaster just because it was "Made In USA"? Is it going to make toast better than a $15 toaster "Hecho In Mexico" or whatever other country? Even making the infrastructure to make a toaster would not do much in the way of increasing the manufacturing abilities in the US. What could it do if the War Powers Act were invoked? Or, am I just way too much of a simpleton to be able to see potential?
- photonbeam 3y agoId pay hundreds for a toaster built like a tank Not because I need that, I just enjoy overly heavy things
- dylan604 3y agoThe thing about heavy things is their sheer size. There's only so much counter space and cabinet storage. Then again, if you have the disposable cash to spend that kind of money on a toaster, you probably have a kitchen larger than the majority of people's apartment
- prodent 3y agoMy espresso machine would like a word. It's pretty compact yet weighs 17 kgs / 37.5 lbs due to essentially being a dense block of stainless steel, copper and brass.
- philwelch 3y agoDo I have the product for you! https://www.amazon.com/Tungsten-Cube-1-5-One-Kilo/dp/B00XZBIJLS https://www.amazon.com/Tungsten-Cube-1-5-One-Kilo/dp/B00XZBI...
- nothercastle 3y agoWhy not but one of these? Ours has been going strong for 7 years now https://www.dualit.com/products/2-slice-newgen https://www.dualit.com/products/2-slice-newgen
- Glawen 3y agoGreat machine, my parents have it, they love it and I love it. Still, I pondered about buying one too, but at 160€ it was a tough sell because we barely make 2 toasts a week. In the end I took a Russel Hobbes made in china for half the price. I kinda regret it because it's bad quality, but for our use it's ok.
- mpclark 3y agoI’ve used my Dualit almost daily since 1992. Still in tip-top condition, though it has had two sets of new heating elements at a cost of about £30 each time.
- CPLX 3y agoThis thing is amazing: https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/toasters/bta735.html?sku=BTA735BSS1BUS1 https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/toasters/bta735.html...
- bradly 3y agoPeople pay hundreds of dollars for toasters already. This is another entry in that market with a marketing angle of being made in the U.S.A. which is important to a lot of U.S. consumers.
- azinman2 3y agoI much rather buy something American generally, and certainly from the perspective of a higher quality product designed to last.
- jszymborski 3y agoI would by a $75+ toaster that: - was made in a free Democratic country - is of quality I often pay a premium for such items.
- Lio 3y agoI think a Dualit is what you want. I have a 4 slice Dualit[1] I bought in 2004 and it still works perfectly. It's an unchanging point of reliability in our kitchen. The Classic model is basically an old catering toaster design from the 1950s. So it has "anti-features" that make it suitable for a commercial setting where you're making lots of toast to order. e.g. you can pop the bread to check it without resetting the timer and there's no spring to wear out. As far as I'm concerned the high quality toaster, made in a free democratic country, is a solved problem. 1. https://www.dualit.com/collections/classic-range https://www.dualit.com/collections/classic-range
- jszymborski 3y agovery cool, will probably patronize them next I'm looking for a toaster. Might even make for a nice wedding gift.
- throwaway2037 3y agoI am sure you can do this in Taiwan, Korea, Japan. There must some high end makers onshore.
- dheera 3y ago> was made in a free Democratic country Why is this important to you? If civilians are oppressed by a government, I'm all the MORE willing to support the civilians to do what they want to be doing, and if making the world's best toaster is what they want to be doing I will more than happily pay them for it and help them live the life they want in spite of whatever regime they are in. It wasn't their fault they were born into a political mess and while I understand the desire to financially hurt oppressive regimes, I'm not in favor of doing so in ways that also punish civilians who are just trying to live a happy life.
- gadders 3y agoDualit toasters are over £100 in the UK and are pretty popular. We have one that is over 15 years old and still working.
- jacknews 3y agoPeople are paying $100's for dualit, smeg, the japanese toaster overs, and some of high end breville, cuisinart, etc. There's a market. Not big perhaps. But it needs to be more than just 'made in America'.
- JohnnyHerz 3y agoI disagree. The high end of the market is a proven niche and the target high-end buyer has demonstrated a willingness to spend freely on premium grade products. The is a reason why LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) is one of the most successful and valuable companies in the world. I'm not saying it's easy. Any business endeavor, regardless of product market fit, still requires execution. Easier said than done, but many an entrepreneur has proven their critics wrong. Americans are known for their willingness to take business risk and fail then pick themselves up and try again. Makes life exciting and worth living. But that said, I'm not going to buy "American Made" just because it is, i'm going to buy "Quality Made" and if it happens to be a domestic manufacturer than all the better!
- nl 3y ago> I disagree. The high end of the market is a proven niche and the target high-end buyer has demonstrated a willingness to spend freely on premium grade products. Are you saying there is a proven market for luxury toasters? While in general this is true I think "premium" grade home appliances generally top out around twice the cost of mid-range (I'm thinking vacuums, ovens, refrigerators etc where you compare similar capacity). This probably isn't a sufficient premium to cover the overheads. Coffee machines are probably an exception here. I'm not educated about the toaster market - are they more like microwaves or more like coffee machines?
- MostlyStable 3y agoThere is a very proven market for luxury kitchen implements. And there are actually "high end" toasters
- randmeerkat 3y ago> Are you saying there is a proven market for luxury toasters? There’s a proven luxury market for literally anything. Just look at the $399 Wolf Toaster, which coincidentally is made in the U.S. This is the same brand that makes the famous Wolf Ranges. https://wolfgourmet.com/store/countertop-appliances/four-slice-toaster https://wolfgourmet.com/store/countertop-appliances/four-sli...
- Cacti 3y agoWhat are the numbers for production scale (aka above craft)? Like, a thousand? A million?
- iancmceachern 3y agoIt would be very difficult to make it 100% US made. At best it would be assembled in the US of global parts. Things like the cable, heating elements, plugs, etc. may all be non starters to source here.
- kfrzcode 3y agoIt seems to me the opportunity lies up-stream, then? How are those elements non-starters and what would need to change in order for a viable domestic supply for these types of items to support industry?
- iancmceachern 3y agoMany times it's an environmental regulations thing. There are things you can do, manufacture in other countries that you cannot here. It's just like textiles, much of mineral and other heavy metal refining, etc. If anything, you'd build a plant in Mexico to do that stuff, then put it together here, like most appliance manufacturers do.
- mapasj 3y agoI think many Americans want to buy Made-in-the-USA products. Some evidence of that are websites, Reddit groups, etc dedicated to helping people find those products. I think it’s generally understood by these consumers that the price will be higher. And I don’t think it needs to be premium either. There’s a market for knit hats made in the USA. I doubt the quality assurance or price could compete with a factory from Asia, but they still sell. Partly because Americans want to support American businesses. Not the same as a toaster, but I can see consumer demand being similar.
- xwolfi 3y agoSome might, many I think you're dreaming: but that's a market to study. End of the day, americans might want to use their money for more important things than origin of manufacture, and they'd be smart to throw the paper money the government prints at Chinese underpaid labour giving them actual toasters in exchange, rather than give it to each other. Don't forget, when you buy a toaster from China, you're basically making them bleed and sweat on it for nothing more than your currency they can only use to buy back stuff from you, if you'll allow it. It's a very good deal, so good US consumers should increase their chinese imports rather than decrease it. Or next thing they know, they'll be the ones sweating in sweatshops soldering around toasters for capital-rich Shanghaiese.
- magicalhippo 3y agoA lot of people say they want something until they have to pay for it. Then suddenly they change their minds because invariably it costs more than the cheapest alternative or some other excuse. Sure, some people will still buy it, but it will be a tiny fraction of those who said they wanted the product.