The BEAM System

What's the best kitchen design for busy, urban millennials?

Millennials living in metropolitan areas are looking for a new way to use their kitchen. In an institute survey of roughly 50 millennials, students found that 92 percent of millennials want the kitchen to be more conducive to social interaction; 58 percent cook at least once per day; and nearly half cannot comfortably fit more than two people in their kitchens.

Further research unearthed key value opportunities for a new “Millennial kitchen:”

• Relational - encourages social interaction as it doesn’t keep the cook bound to the kitchen
• Space - conscious - as small and clever as possible.
• Multifunctional - while maintaining proficiency in each individual task.
• Modular – with simple steps to a connected, overarching system.
• Accessible - easy to use, store and clean, with minimal effort on the user’s part.
• Intuitive - low learning curve; product just “works.”
• Agile – capable of morphing with situations and environments as needed – a chameleon.

The Solution

The BEAM System is collection of individual devices that constitute a kitchen kit -- the BEAMbase, BEAMpro, BEAMbowls, BEAMlids, and the SousChef App – aimed at increasing the efficiency of cooking, reducing clean-up and empowering the cook to leave the traditional kitchen behind. Electromagnetic coils induct heat to the pots/pans and power to devices such as their blender - like BEAMpro. Due to the induction, the cooktop itself never gets hot, allowing for an efficient cooking and food prep surface. Although induction cooking has been found in high end kitchen appliances, the BEAM System brings it to millennials in a low-cost, compact format: The students suggested a retail price of $149.99 for this all-in-one energy-efficient, portable design.

Finally, the BEAMpro is able to be completely cordless, receiving power from the base using the electromagnetic coils and thus is portable, making it possible to cook in any room or to take the kitchen on-the-go – perfect for dorms, tailgates and other social settings.