For decades, a small piece of bent metal functioned as a tin opener in thousands of households all over the world. The Butterfly can-opener was born from a wish to created a kitchen utensil that was both ergonomic correct and easy to find.
Early prototypes. The two designers would give everybody that visited them a lump of clay in the hand – and were asked to squeeze it. The result was a blueprint of how different hands would “get a grip”. The different shapes were then molded into one common shape.
To make it easy to find in any kitchen drawer the two designers came up with 8 different colors – making it very easy to spot among the other kitchen utensils.
Bonus info: The first tin cans, invented in 1810, were heavy-weight containers that required ingenuity to open, using knives, chisels or even rocks. Not until cans started using thinner metal about 50 years later were any dedicated openers developed. Thanks to Wikipedia
Designed by Rikke Hagen and Marianne Britt Jørgensen. More pictures and info about Butterfly on our homepage.
Double-bonus info: When we introduced the Butterfly can opener, we thought that everybody around the globe would know how to use it. But our high-tech friends in the US had no clue of its function and so we had to teach them how we do it in the cold north… with no power.
I love your Butterfly! We have a cabin in Northern Wisconsin that is shared by my family and my 7 siblings and their families. The electric can opener up there is so rusty that I wouldn’t want to use it. The butterfly has solved our potential health crises. Thank you