Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410050082
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CLAUDINE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Every time he went to a restaurant, J.H. Kostelni's piping-hot bread always seemed to cool off at the table. It's a problem he decided to do something about: He thought up a new way to keep bread warm.
Kostelni will show his invention for the first time at the fourth annual PYA/Monarch Food Show today and Thursday at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Kostelni, who operates MaxComm, a small marketing company in Lexington, took his concept for the bread warmer to Chicopee, Mass.-based Dielectrics Industries, a company that specializes in developing and manufacturing new uses for air bladders. (The company's best-known product is the air cushion used to inflate Reebok athletic shoes). Kostelni spent about $50,000 on research and development.
The bread-warming bladders are placed in a microwave oven or boiling water for two to three minutes and then fitted into the bottom of napkin-lined bread baskets. Warmed to 180 degrees, the bladders can keep bread toasty on the table for about two hours.
"It keeps bread warm and it frees up oven space," Kostelni said. "You don't have to keep bread in the oven now; you just have to grab a basket."
The warmer, called Natalie's Breadwarmer, resembles a firm hot-water bottle. It is made with vinyl and a nontoxic liquid, he said.
"I cannot say exactly what our ingredients are," he said, adding, "Coke does not give out it's recipe, so why should I?''
The warmers come in two sizes. Kostelni is selling the 3-by-6-inch pads for $14.95 during the food show and the 5-by-9-inch pads for $18.95. After the show, the smaller pads will cost $19.95 and the larger pads $23.95. He expects to sell the pads primarily through wholesalers who supply restaurants and institutions, rather than sell directly to consumers.
The bread warmer is one of Kostelni's latest ventures. He also thought up the Kiddie Locator, an electronic device that beeps when children stray away from their parents, and he's developing a computer-based marketing tool for businesses.
"Whenever I have ideas or opportunities, I do the research and see if they are feasible, and I find a way to get them manufactured," he said.
He proposed his bread warmer about a month ago to PYA/Monarch representatives, who liked the product and invited him to display it at the food show. He will be just one of 175 vendors at the show. If he sells 600 warmers, PYA/Monarch has agreed to act as a distributor.
The food show is sponsored by PYA/Monarch of Salem, a subsidiary of Consolidated Food Services Cos., which is a limited partnership of Sara Lee Corp. and the Sandler family of Virginia Beach.
This year's show is expected to draw about 4,000 people and generate more than $4 million in sales. It is intended to introduce PYA/Monarch's customers to new products it distributes.
The company's primary customers are restaurants and institutional food servers such as hospitals, school systems and nursing homes.
Kostelni is one of about 30 non-food vendors showing off products at the food show.
"We realized that his idea was unique, and it answered a need," said Peter Jacobs, vice president of marketing and procurement for PYA/Monarch. "There is nothing like warm, fresh-baked bread. But it does not stay warm very long."
by CNB