Revolutionary toast - Manufacturing/Distribution

South Florida CEO, August, 2002

* It's being billed as the first truly new development in the art of toasting since the Earl of Sandwich decided to lightly brown his bread slices. Applica Consumer Products is rolling out a new Black & Decker Arize Toaster (Applica acquired the Black & Decker household product line four years ago), designed and developed at Applica's Miami Lakes headquarters.

Its revolutionary new twist: bread slices are slowly moved up and down past heating coils, which toasts the surface without cooking the interior. The result: crunchy outside, moist inside. And it's all visible inside the see-through appliance. "The design speaks for itself," says spokesman Chris Mitchell. "Ultimately, what we wanted to do was to produce a better quality of toast." Expect to see the Arize toaster on shelves in the near future, for between $65 and $75 each.