Orange Chef’s Countertop kitchen prep accessory integrates with Apple Watch and Vitamix

Cooking is not easy, neither is making healthier choices. No matter your skill level in the kitchen or fitness, chances are you’ve found yourself at a crossroads wondering how to improve these areas of life.

Today, Orange Chef has announced a new product that aims to bridge the gap to a healthier life with its new Countertop accessory for the kitchen. You may have seen some of Orange Chef’s other nifty gadgets, but the Countertop aims to take meal prep to a whole new level with integration for Apple Watch, Jawbone, and other kitchen mainstays such as Vitamix and Crockpot.

It’ll even tell you how make that elusive perfect smoothie…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWc6XtTpSyk

Orange Chef clearly lays out its goal for Countertop, to bring the kitchen into the 21st century with inter-device connectivity at the forefront. The whole system is centered around the base, which has built-in Bluetooth LE and NFC, a one-year battery and a water-resistant and dishwasher safe top. This is where food is prepared, precisely measuring food to less than one gram. Adapters for Vitamix and Crock-Pot slow cookers are also available, enabling communication between Countertop and those kitchen appliances. More adapters are slated to arrive following release.

The Countertop can communicate with the to-be-released Apple Watch as well as fitness trackers like the Jawbone UP. This is where Orange Chef is pushing the kitchen to become a place of smarter decisions, providing healthier meal options at all times of the day. For example, say that you return from a run: Countertop already knows what you’ve eaten, how you slept and how much you’ve exercised so it can make an appropriate recommendation on a post-workout smoothie. Not only will it tell you what to make, it’ll walk you through step-by-step how to prepare it. In this example, the Vitamix (with adapter attached) would sit on the Countertop as the app gave directions for prep. Apple Watch users will be able to receive recipes directly on the device, leaving both hands free to cook with.

Multi-device integration is where Orange Chef is really banking on the magic happening. Fitness trackers will be able to provide sleep data, which will in turn allow Countertop to make better recommendations for breakfast based on the previous night. The more committed the user is to the service will in-turn create a more complete dietary plan.

Orange Chef’s Countertop is currently available for pre-order at a discounted price of $99.95 direct, following the pre-order window the price jump up to $200. It is slated to ship this fall, with additional accessories coming in the following months.

[9to5-press-release]

Countertop™ is a Smart Kitchen System That Connects Appliances For Healthy Eating

Countertop Partners with Vitamix®, Crock-Pot® brand and Wearables Such as Jawbone® UP™ and Is Available Today For Pre-Order

SAN FRANCISCOApril 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — What if a blender could suggest the perfect smoothie after a great workout? What if a slow cooker could explain a recipe step-by-step and learn the tastes of its user? What if any appliance could be easily converted into a smart appliance with a simple adapter? Orange Chef, widely regarded as leaders of the smart kitchen category, today announces an exciting new smart kitchen system that makes all of these possibilities real without replacing a single appliance.

Introducing Countertop, a smart kitchen system that gives personalized snack and meal recommendations to help users eat better and achieve their goals. It works with the appliances and fitness devices users already own to deliver the best possible meal recommendations, in the moment. Countertop even helps users make meals step-by-step, and provides real-time insight into the nutritional content of food with an accurate breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and other essential nutrients.

The Countertop system includes an iOS app, a base to prep meals and optional one-step install, inexpensive adapters for appliances. Countertop syncs with fitness trackers and Apple Health; and uses the data from workouts, activity and sleep patterns to serve up personalized meal and snack recommendations.

Connect: Make the most out of current appliances and fitness trackers.

  • Vitamix high-performance blenders. Installing the dishwasher safe adapter is as easy as snapping it into place. Once a Vitamix container is placed on top of the base, Countertop will instantly recognize it and give a personalized recommendation, such as a smoothie or soup—tailored specifically to a user’s nutritional needs.
  • Crock-Pot® Slow Cookers. Place the heat-resistant adapter on the slow cooker crock, and preparing healthy and quick slow cooker meals becomes incredibly easy. Users can follow meal prep instructions step by step, with no pre-measuring needed—just place the crock on the base, add the ingredients and Countertop will notify the user once the correct ingredient amounts are reached.
  • Fitness trackers. By connecting with fitness trackers such as Jawbone UP, Countertop keeps track of workouts, activity and sleep patterns. This enables the Countertop app to suggest the right meal for optimal nutrition, in the moment.
  • More appliances to come. As Countertop continues to grow its ecosystem, Orange Chef plans to roll out more adapters for other commonly used kitchen appliances and tools.
  • Hands free. Countertop will be available on Apple Watch. Using Make Mode on Apple Watch, users are free to cook with two hands.

Recommend: Eliminate the guesswork from making simple, delicious food that fits into nutritional goals.

  • Personalized meal suggestions. Countertop takes into account each user’s physical activity, food preferences and sleep patterns to provide snack and meal suggestions based on time of day, nutritional requirements and personal goals. Once a meal is suggested a user can swipe-left to see additional options or swipe-right to select a meal. Countertop learns meal likes and dislikes based on user selections, and as the app learns, it gets smarter and the meal recommendations become more precise.
  • Easily track food intake. Countertop is the most precise way to track food intake. It makes it easy to swap ingredients in and out based on preference, goals and convenience. As meals are prepared, Countertop automatically logs exactly which ingredients are used, quantifying nutrition in real-time with easy-to-read graphs.

Make: The kitchen’s “genius” setting.

  • Simple. After selecting a meal, the app transitions into Make Mode, offering simple, step-by-step guidelines for preparing meals.
  • No pre-measuring needed. The Countertop base knows how much is required of each ingredient, notifying the user when the correct amount has been added.

“By partnering with well-known brands such as Vitamix, Jawbone and Crock-Pot® and by designing add-on adapters that will retrofit kitchen appliances, we are making the smart kitchen affordable and accessible,” said Santiago Merea, CEO and founder of Orange Chef. “Our vision is to become the operating system for the kitchen.”

“Like Orange Chef, Vitamix believes that preparing and enjoying fresh, whole foods should be easy and delicious,” said  Anthony M. Ciepiel, Chief Operating Officer, Vitamix. “Countertop is a natural fit for Vitamix as it builds on our vision of improving the vitality of people’s lives.”

Pricing and Availability
For a limited time, Countertop is available at the promotional price of $99.95 USD when pre-ordered at www.orangechef.com; this is 50% off the retail price of $199.95. The companion Countertop app is available as a free download in the App Store. The Vitamix and Crock-Pot® slow cooker adapters are $9.95 and $4.95, respectively, during the pre-order period and $19.95 and $9.95 in the fall. Orange Chef will ship its first Countertop bases and adapter accessories starting Fall 2015.

Useful Links

About Orange Chef
The Orange Chef Co. (“Orange Chef”) designs and manufactures hardware and software applications to answer some of the toughest questions around health and nutrition. Widely regarded as leaders of the smart kitchen category, all products are created with an emphasis on quality, simple design and a smart utilization of artificial intelligence technologies. Orange Chef distributes their products in stores like Williams Sonoma, Apple, Target, and Amazon, among others. Established in 2011, Orange Chef is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco. For more information on Orange Chef products visit www.orangechef.com.

About Vitamix
The Vitamix family of companies is privately held and family-owned and -operated. Founded in 1921, Vitamix manufactures high-performance blending equipment for home and commercial use. Its commercial customer list reads like a “Who’s Who” of major restaurant chains, and gourmet chefs say their Vitamix machines are as important to them as their knives. A recognized leader in marketing and product innovation, Vitamix founder William G. “Papa” Barnard created one of the first infomercials in 1949 to demonstrate how the Vitamix blender could help people improve their health with whole foods, and the company developed the first true commercial blender in the early 1990s, which ignited the smoothie movement. Vitamix, whose products are known worldwide for their performance, durability, and reliability, continues to win awards for product innovation and is a recipient of the president’s prestigious “E Star” Award for Exports. Headquartered in Olmsted Township, Ohio, 19 miles from Cleveland, Vitamix products are engineered and assembled in Northeast Ohio and sold in approximately 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.vitamix.com.

About Jarden Corporation
Jarden Corporation is a leading provider of a diverse range of consumer products with a portfolio of over 120 trusted, quality brands sold globally. Jarden operates in three primary business segments through a number of well recognized brands, including: Branded Consumables: Ball®, Bee®, Bernardin®, Bicycle®, Billy Boy®, Crawford®, Diamond®, Dicon®, Fiona®, First Alert®, First Essentials®, Hoyle®, Kerr®, Lehigh®, Lifoam®, Lillo®, Loew Cornell®, Mapa®, Millefiori®, NUK®, Pine Mountain®, Quickie®, Spontex®, Tigex® and Yankee Candle®; Outdoor Solutions: Abu Garcia®, AeroBed®, Berkley®, Campingaz® and Coleman®, Dalbello®, ExOfficio®, Fenwick®, Gulp!®, Invicta®, K2®, Marker®, Marmot®, Mitchell®, PENN®, Rawlings®, Shakespeare®, Squadra®, Stearns®, Stren®, Trilene®, Völkl® and Zoot®; and Consumer Solutions: Bionaire®, Breville®, Crock-Pot®, FoodSaver®, Health o meter®, Holmes®, Mr. Coffee®, Oster®, Patton®, Rainbow®, Rival®, Seal-a-Meal®, Sunbeam®, VillaWare® and White Mountain®.  Headquartered in Florida, Jarden ranks #356 on the Fortune 500 and has over 30,000 employees worldwide.  For further information about Jarden, please visit www.jarden.com.

[/9to5-press-release]

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