On my recent flight home I indulged in my favorite airplane pastime, flipping through a Skymall and laughing to myself about all the strange products I can’t imagine anyone would want, much less need.
The most entertaining discovery this trip was the Peugeot Elis Electric Salt & Pepper Combo. This set of ‘Stainless Look’ automated Pepper and Salt Mill runs on AAA batteries and eliminates the need to grind pepper or fresh rock salt by hand. Their value proposition:
“Treat your guests to the elegance of fresh-ground pepper and rock salt without the workout.”
Ha. Someone had to be joking to call grinding salt or pepper a workout, that’s just embarrassing! The best part of it all is the $199 price tag.
On the positive side, this product may have some emotional value because they are sleek and shiny and fit in with contemporary style. One customer review stated what a great conversational piece they are. Additionally, they have some interesting and useful features including a light that enables the user to more easily see the grind amount and several grind settings. They are also treated to resist corrosion and wear. While I can see the lure of having everything in one’s kitchen cutting edge and high tech, to me these seem impractical. Using electronics and batteries to accomplish such a simple task just opens the door to malfunction. Just imagine hosting a dinner for friends and having to leave the table mid-meal to go find batteries for the pepper mill! Automating the process also eliminates the feel of the kernels crushing, a satisfying element of using an “old fashioned” mill.
My original thought was that this design did not really solve a need and was merely someone trying to make a cool product, but based on the reviews this is a great innovation for older people or those lacking good hand function.
