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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Tetra

Heatworks Partners With BASF to Bring the Tiny Tetra Dishwasher To Market in 2021

When Heatworks introduced the Tetra at CES 2018, I imagine they were just as surprised as anyone when it became one of the most buzzed about new products at the annual tech show.

The tiny countertop dishwasher, which promised to clean a few settings of dishes with just half a gallon of water in 10 minutes, appeared on dozens of top of CES lists and the product’s small form factor, sexy design and estimated price point ($299 at the time) had many of us signing up to be notified when it was available.

All of that buzz was probably new for a company that had focused on making tankless water heaters to that point, which probably added a bit of pressure when the original ship date of end of 2018 slipped by.

When I asked them about it last year, Heatworks said the reason for the delay was they were primarily focused on bringing their latest generation water heater, the Model 3, to market. It turns out they also had another reason, which is they would ultimately need a partner to build the sophisticated detergent dispensing system required for such a small form factor device.

That partnership, announced today, is with German conglomerate BASF.

According to the release, the Tetra cartridge system “will be designed to deliver custom solutions and dosing, dependent on the selected wash cycle, ensuring each cleaning cycle is optimized. Tetra’s cartridges will last for multiple loads and consumers will be able to sign up for a subscription, so that cartridges are shipped to them automatically.”

Obviously a subscription based detergent system is a new wrinkle for the Tetra, one that might be a cause for reconsideration for those still waiting for a Tetra. Another potential concern might be the slightly higher price tag ($399) for the new device.

Still, unlike many of the other countertop dishwashers on the market, the Tetra doesn’t require plumbing or hoses and uses less than half of the water. Because of this self-sufficiency and the product’s attractive design, I imagine the 25,000 or so customers the company says have signed up expressing interest in the Tetra might still pull the trigger.

Hopefully soon they’ll have a chance: According to Heatworks and BASF, the Tetra will be available in the second half of 2021.

Editor Roundtable Podcast: We Have Opinions on Tiny Dishwashers & Beyond Burgers

In case you didn’t already know, The Spoon team has lots of opinions. As you might guess, those opinions are especially pronounced when it comes to food and kitchen gadgets.

And so we decided to get together and get some things off our chest on this Editor Roundtable edition of the Food Tech Show.

Here’s what we talked about:

In addition to lots of opinions, we also share sound effects (or at least I do).

As always, please subscribe, play (and rate!) the podcast in Apple podcasts (or your favorite pod player), download direct or just click play below.

Tetra, the Tiny Countertop Dishwasher Everyone Fell in Love with, Now Won’t Ship Until 2020

Exactly no one predicted that a dishwasher would steal the show at CES, but that’s what happened in Vegas in January of 2018.

Originally expected to be available for purchase at the end of 2018, the Tetra dishwasher from Heatworks had attendees saying “take our money” with its promise of a ten minute wash cycle, miserly water usage and a futuristic design that made many of us (including me) weirdly ok with the idea of putting a dishwasher on our already crowded countertops.

Now, however, those of us ready to plop down $299 for the Tetra can hold onto our money for another year: the countertop dishwasher now isn’t expected to ship until some time in 2020.

Why the slipping ship dates? According to company spokesperson Melissa Verzwyvelt, the issue had to do more with straightening out contract manufacturing issues with the company’s latest generation water heater, the Model 3, which took focus and resources away from the company’s newest product line.

“With Tetra, we have had to push our dates back twice now because we have had a few production issues with our MODEL 3 Water Heater that have been out of our control,” Verzwyvelt told me via email. “So instead of finalizing Tetra’s specifications and distribution channels as we had anticipated, our team’s focus and resources have gone to resolving MODEL 3 contract manufacturer problems.”

That’s a bummer for those of us eager to buy the Tetra, but an even bigger one for Heatworks. After all, the company had lots of buzz coming out of CES two years in a row for its new product line. You have to think some folks will possibly move on by the time it finally ships, or even consider another entrant (say hi, Bob).

On the other hand, the company’s core business has been water heaters (it’s where the patented water heating technology in the Tetra comes from), so it makes sense to get that ironed out first.

Some of you may be wondering about the status of the DUO, the new portable water heating carafe the company debuted at CES this year. According to Verzwyvelt, with the Model 3 manufacturing issues behind them, the company is also busy working on getting the DUO to market as well, which means hopefully they’ll meet the 2020 ship date I predicted in January of this year.

You can get a look at the Tetra in the video below.

Meet the DUO, The Portable Carafe With Precision Temperature Control

At last year’s CES, one of my favorite new products was the Tetra, a small countertop dishwasher that cleans the equivalent of two place settings of dishes in about 15 minutes with a single gallon of water.

The product was introduced by Heatworks, a company I had never heard of before, mostly because I was not in the business of writing about water heaters.

Maybe I should have been paying more attention because, as it turns out, the technology that powers their water heaters can be used in a variety of devices, including the company’s latest, a portable water carafe with precision temperature control called the DUO.

The DUO, which the company is introducing at CES 2019, is a battery powered portable carafe that holds up to a liter of water. The DUO can heat water to within 1° of a desired setpoint and also also includes a water filtration system.

I caught up with Heatworks CEO, Jerry Callahan, at CES Unveiled, who told me that they made the DUO because they realized how important precise water temperature was to making anything from a good cup of coffee to green tea to baby formula.

“We started with the premise that people really wanted to get the exact right temperature,” said Callahan.

I could see myself using a DUO when I’m in a hotel room (does anyone else get grossed out by hotel coffee machines? Thought so) or when I’m camping. I can also see using it for filtering drinking water on the road since I never know how good the drinking water is in any city I might be in.

When I asked Callahan when the DUO might ship, he said they were hoping that it would be available by end of the year. My assumption is that probably means first half 2020, in large part because the company missed its original promised ship date for the Tetra (which they are now promising out by Q1), and at this point the DUO is still largely in prototype stage.

You can hear my full conversation with Callahan from the show floor below.

Meet the Duo, a portable water carafe with precision temperature control

Podcast: The CES 2018 Smart Kitchen & Foodtech Wrapup Show

CES 2018 is in the books. It was a hectic week packed with smart kitchen news and showcases. Mike was on the floor in Las Vegas and reveals the big trends (voice activation everywhere!), the cool news stuff (guided cooking!), and the countertop dishwasher he calls “sexy.”

Take a listen for all the in-depth analysis you need. You can also subscribe to the Smart Kitchen Show in Apple Podcasts or download it here.

Meet Tetra, A $299 Countertop Dishwasher That Finishes A Wash Cycle In Ten Minutes

The reason why the dishwasher is one of those everyday conveniences most of us don’t think about is because we don’t have to; after all, today’s dishwashers pretty much all come in the same size, use roughly the same amount of water, and all take about an hour or more to run through a wash cycle.

But here’s the problem with one-sized fits all machines: not every task – or dish load – is the same size. So, when I ran across a demo of the Tetra countertop dishwasher at CES Unveiled, I was intrigued.

The Tetra is small as dishwashers go. The total counter space it takes up is roughly equivalent to that of a toaster oven. It’s also, if I might say, pretty cool looking for a dishwasher. You can see what it looks like in the video below:

Why would one want a small form factor dishwasher? For one, traditional dishwashers are pretty wasteful. With the Tetra, the user simply pours in half a gallon of water inside and that is all it needs for a full wash cycle.

It’s also quick. My old KitchenAid usually takes an hour or more to rumble through a cycle, but the Tetra finishes a cycle in 10 minutes.

And to top it all off, the device also will act as a sous vide appliance.

One reason I like the idea of the Tetra is I often find my usage of certain dishes is out of sync with how we use our dishwasher.  Because it often takes my family a day and half to dirty up enough dishes run a load, I often find myself handwashing my favorite mug or Nutribullet glass when it’s time to make a smoothie. The Tetra is perfect for these type of quick wash cycles for go-to dishes. And for someone like a parent with a newborn who is constantly washing baby bottles, it would make even more sense.

The Tetra is from a company called Heatworks, which you may have heard of for their tankless electric water heaters. The company is announcing its third generation water heater at CES (available in February), and the Tetra is the company’s first home appliance.

And in case you’re wondering – you don’t need a Heatworks water heater to heat your water for the Tetra – it has a mini one built inside.

The Tetra is expected to ship by the end of this year.