In the case of kitchen home equipment, true innovation is uncommon. Take, for instance, the air fryer: Firms have spent years adjusting the scale and form of the system, however on the finish of the day, it’s nonetheless a cumbersome countertop convection oven — albeit one that may crisp up a frozen pizza or roast broccoli florets rapidly with little oil needed. That was till SharkNinja, the Needham, Massachusetts–primarily based equipment firm, launched the Ninja Crispi Moveable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System.
As an alternative of the same old boxy form, the staff at Ninja found out learn how to condense the 1,500-watt air-frying mechanism into the system’s lid, referred to as the PowerPod. Snapped onto one in every of Ninja’s two glass storage containers (the Crispi comes with a 4-quart and a 6-cup container with accompanying lids), the PowerPod crisps up no matter is inside. “You may prep, retailer, serve, and reheat in the identical containers,” says Kaitlyn Beauchemin, senior vice chairman of worldwide advertising for Ninja.
The Crispi makes it simpler to organize a scorching lunch on an workplace desk, and Ninja examined it with nurses, legislation enforcement, building web site workers, and different shift staff to make sure that the product labored for nearly anybody. It has particularly been embraced by Gen Z house cooks on TikTok, the place there are millions of movies devoted to the equipment. In response to Ninja, the Crispi is constantly one of many prime 10 air fryers offered because it first launched in 2024.
The Crispi is only one of many viral kitchen home equipment launched by Ninja previously few years. There’s additionally the Slushi, which transforms liquids into icy frozen drinks. (Who doesn’t love frozen Margaritas on demand?) And there’s the Creami, which shaves and churns the ice crystals of any frozen base — yogurt, pureed fruit, juice, even protein shakes — and turns it into ice cream. It’s maybe Ninja’s most viral product of all, with over 2 billion world social impressions. (Even cooks are infatuated: 2023 F&W Finest New Chef Isabel Coss says that she prefers it for making ice cream over the pricier PacoJet present in {most professional} kitchens, as a consequence of a superior texture.)
When creating a brand new equipment, Ninja at all times thinks about virality and actively mines social media for shopper tendencies and wishes. And whereas it’s tough to foretell their subsequent invention, the staff is consistently testing out new improvements — and at warp velocity. “Each few weeks, we’ll get right into a room and take an concept and speed up it,” says Beauchemin. “On a Monday, it turns into an concept, and by Friday, it’s a prototype.” And some months later, within the Crispi’s case, it’s all over the place.