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

SAN FRANCISCO, April 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.

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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.

Media Contact
Jeff Koo
Sparkpr for Orange Chef
[email protected]
415.321.1866

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SOURCE Orange Chef

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