by Glen and Lori Hunt
EUGENE, Ore. — When Glen and Lori Hunt see a problem, they solve it. When that problem is related to food, they put their years of experience in the restaurant business to work to invent a product that’s as useful for families with children as it is for commercial kitchens. Introducing a watermelon slicer.
“I have always had an inventing mind, and one day I thought there just had to be a better way to cut watermelon. It’s a great fruit, but it rolls around and can be dangerous because it’s so unstable.”
Anyone who’s ever struggled to keep a large watermelon on the counter to slice it in half recognizes the problem, and the unwieldy fruit is especially difficult for kids to handle. When well-meaning parents attempt to pre-slice watermelon for the next day’s lunch boxes, results are often disappointing. “You just end up with a mushy mess,” explains Lori. “A lot goes to waste, and that’s a problem for families trying feed their kids healthy foods on a budget.”
The Hunts are no strangers to tight budgets. One-time restaurateurs with four locations and 17 years of success in a competitive industry, their luck turned during the recession in 2009. “Staring over at age 50-plus has been really tough, to say the least. We lost everything: house, cars and businesses. But we tightened our belts and kept moving forward,” says Glen. “We’re always looking ahead together as a family.”
That focus on the future led Glen to invent not just a watermelon slicer, but an entire watermelon storage system. The One Slice Watermelon Slicer comes with a base to stabilize the fruit, while the slicer top doubles as a seal to keep the flesh moist and intact between servings. “You just pop the whole thing in the fridge, and it stays fresh for up to a week with no fuss,” says Lori.
The device also removes the rind if desired. To prove that One Slice is easy enough for a child to operate, the Hunts’ daughter Alena takes on a starring role in the video demonstration on Kickstarter. It takes just 10 seconds for her to slice and de-rind an after-school snack, which she hopes will encourage more kids to reach for a healthy choice whenever they can. “I think kids want to eat things that taste good, as long as it’s easy for them to do,” she says.
The Hunts are hoping to raise $65,000 on Kickstarter to fund wider production and sales of their invention. Interested investors can visit the Hunts’ Kickstarter page to learn more about the product, watch a video demonstration and reserve their own One Slice Watermelon Slicer. Early bird pricing is $25 for the first 500 backers; standard pricing is $29.
The fundraising period for the One Slice Watermelon Slicer ends at 10:26 a.m. on October 27.