How will Kaido cope? Instant Brands file for bankruptcy protection

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,346
10,867
136
Same "profit over everything" attitude that leads to nearly every product nowadays being made like crap. :(

Where did anyone ever get the idea that profits can just keep going up forever? (newsflash... they can't)

There's a dose of some serious reality roaring down the pike at a fair clip for America right now and a lot of folks just don't see it coming.
 
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Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
50,969
6,899
136


They make Corelle, Pyrex and Instant Pot.

I'm actually pretty sad about it. Bob the founder is a really cool guy that I got in contact with back in the early days. The original story for me was that my friend's mom made brown rice in her stovetop pressure cooker & it COMPLETELY changed my mind that brown rice could actually be GOOD, but I was too scared to get a traditional stovetop model. For people who still aren't "in the know", here's the scoop:

Instant Pot 101 tutorial

Bob invented the Instant Pot in 2009 & later merged with Corelle Brands aka Instand Brands (Pyrex, CorningWare, SnapWare, Corelle, Visions, Chicago Cutlery) in 2019. The latest Instant Pot model (the $200 Pro Plus) is bonkers neat:


1. It has wi-fi control so you can release the steam remotely & also has a physical pushbutton to release the steam
2. It has a sous-vide function
3. It can do pressure canning (15 PSI)
4. Custom temperature range (ex. for doing yogurt, you can set it between 77F to 185F)

I currently have 3 units (6qt, 8qt, and a GoWise brand monster 14qt). We have over 1.4 million users on the IP recipes Facebook group, not to mention endless recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, etc.:


It's hard because there are a lot of problems with the current market:

1. Correlle Brands products are in 90% of U.S. households
2. My Instapot has been working...forever lol. So now everyone has their stuff, but no one needs new stuff anymore...
3. Cheap knockoffs are available. 95% of Instapot recipes are on Manual Mode with High Pressure, which can be replicated with any $50 6-quart unit on the market.
4. Better versions started coming out. The Ninja Foodi is an AIO unit that has an airfryer on top, which is pretty convenient for small kitchens!
5. There are a million Chinese knockoffs for their other brands (glassware, dishes, etc.), especially on Amazon
6. COVID has ruined everything, especially supply chains
7. They also make some of the world's best airfryers, but they are often twice the price ($120 vs. $60) as their competitors

They're privately-held; the 2019 deal valued them at $2 billion dollars & their current debt is over $500 million to over 5,000 creditors. They basically held an unsustainable growth pattern, more than doubling year after year since 2011:


I didn't grow up magically knowing how to cook (I was allergic to food for like 10 years & had to learn lol), so having a push-button appliance that could magically create amazing food has been an amazing experience! I also suffer from executive dysfunction, so even though I enjoy cooking, it's sometimes just too hard to do because my brain hurts lol (yay low dopamine from Inattentive ADHD!). So it's been a really great tool in my life for letting me hit my macros (went from 260 to 170 over the years!), do meal-prepping, and just enjoy some really great meals!

First thing I ever made was Instapot ribs: zap them in the pressure cooker for around 20 minutes, slather on some BBQ sauce, and broil until happy! Still make them from time to time:

1686679105973.png
 
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Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
50,969
6,899
136
Go vertical. There are these things called shelving units :colbert:

Been there, done that! The Instant Pot is hiding between the microwave & chamber-vac lol:

1r3ph29a30t81.png
 
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Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,346
10,867
136
Somehow I have a feeling the Pyrex brand at least won't be going anywhere.

They can make money on glass bongs and dab-rigs alone! :p
 

WilliamM2

Platinum Member
Jun 14, 2012
2,850
809
136
It's chapter 11. They are just writing off a lot of other people's money.

From the article, they are over 500 million in debt:

Snyder says the company is trying to buy time to come up with a solution that will let them continue to operate, but "it's really up to the creditor at this point because of the size of the debt, whether they are going to let them continue to fund losses."

He says he wouldn't be surprised to see the company be forced to liquidate.