The way WowBacon sees it, everybody loves to eat bacon, but no one likes actually cooking it. “However you cook bacon, it’s a mess,” says Harlan Kerson, a consultant with WowBacon’s parent company, Chalnj, LLC. “If you cook it on the stovetop, there’s splatter. If you cook it in the oven, there’s tinfoil and all that grease. Even in the microwave, there’s paper towels, and the bacon sticks to it so you have to peel it off and there is still grease everywhere.”
This is where WowBacon comes in. The company has developed a microwave bacon cooker that eliminates the mess, controls leftover grease, and turns out perfectly cooked bacon every time, explains Kerson, who purchased the patents and manufacturing equipment associated with WowBacon in 2012. The product was introduced in 2006 by Valcor Inventions.
Enclosed bacon cooker
The WowBacon is a totally enclosed bacon cooker with a convenient coffee pot style handle. The bacon is suspended from vanes inside the product while it cooks, allowing grease to collect in the bottom of the pitcher. Grease disposal and clean-up are easy. According to Kerson, the WowBacon is superior to competitive microwave bacon cookers that use rods, because the bacon hangs in straight strips, so it cooks flat. This also prevents scorch marks, common to other bacon cookers, which occur when the inner sides of hanging bacon strips touch each other and burn. The WowBacon is compatible with any type of bacon, including thick or thin sliced.
“When the bacon is cooked, you take it out of the microwave, take the top off, and you can move the bacon from the product to the plate,” says Kerson. “All the drippings stay in the bottom of the container to do whatever you want with, and the product itself can go right in the dishwasher when you’re done.” The WowBacon cooker fits 95 percent of microwaves on the market, and is easy to assemble and disassemble.
Committed to retailers
WowBacon’s marketing philosophy is built around independent retailers, instead of big-box stores or national advertising campaigns, so the company offers extensive support for retailers. After testing, the firm opted to package individual products in sleeves instead of boxes, because consumers understand it better when they can see the product itself, notes Kerson. Within the next 90 days, WowBacon plans to introduce both floor and shelf topper displays that can hold up to a case (12 units) of cookers. WowBacon is also developing an integrated shelf and floor display with an 8″ screen and video player. “We have a video that shows the product in use, and people really respond to it,” says Kerson.
Buying details
The WowBacon product can be ordered via email, on the website, or by phone. The product is priced at $8.49/unit, plus shipping for wholesale orders, with a minimum order of 12 units. The minimum advertised price is $19.95, meaning margins generally hover around 100 percent once shipping is figured in. WowBacon products are made in the United States and Asia.
Chalnj, LLC
PO Box 338
Kenilworth, IL 60043
Tel.: 406-225-7822, 514-670-1717
Website: www.wowbacon.com