Thanks Sierra and everyone. I'll check out the patent and the already 'available' though pretty invisible product (I googled for everything decaf before submitting to quirky and got zip). As for caffeine-free seekers, it's not only pregnant or nursing women and people who don't want caffeine for health reasons; it's also the whole enormous baby boomer market that is unable to sleep after drinking caffeine post 5 PM. The chemistry for developing the strip tip seems the major hurdle--though far less complex than a fancy probe. More like the pregnancy strip: pee on it and it turns a color for yes or no. Also, you could expand the product, yes, to bigger markets--"matchstick books" for peanut or other allergies, MSG, sugar, etc. The health-food market is already vast and still growing. RM
@Shawn Electronic probes are very complicated and expensive to make. At least for a pH probe it involves VERY thin glass and a steady electrical current.
To do this correctly you need to use ligand based chemistry and unless you know of a chemical that will specially bind caf. then you have a product but until then its going to be tough.
I think this is a great product idea but the know how to get it done will be tough.
I like the idea, but I'm wondering if Quirky is the avenue to pursue for medical/health products. Looking at all the products that have made it past presales, they all have a "techy" vibe. I do like the idea, though. Good luck!
I've never heard of such a product, and I am sure that people would buy it, but aren't there a lot more people that want caffeine than those that don't? Also, if there are already products out there that do this, I would think that people are more likely to buy from a company that is named "discovertesting" than they would from "quirky".
I am constantly concerned about my caffeine intake. I am 8 months pregnant so I do need to worry about how much I am consuming as it could be harmful to the baby (the limit for a pregnant women is 200 mg/day). The average 8 oz. cup of coffee has 135 mg of caffeine. A cappuccino 90 mg. A 12 oz. cola, 35 mg. As you can see it's not hard to past the recommended amount. I still enjoy going to Starbucks, why should I have to give that up just because I'm pregnant? I just supplement by ordering decaf, but I always wonder - what if it's not really decaf? Also (sorry for the visual guys) but when women breastfeed (the currently recommend you breastfeed until the baby is one year of age, minimum) so mothers still need to worry about the caffeine intake even after the baby is born - as whatever you drink, the baby drinks a few hours later. Too much will cause you to have a fussy baby. So that's a minimum of 20 months mothers need to be concerned about their intake for one baby. There are also medical reasons why one would need to stay away from caffeine. For example if anyone has seen those commercials on Restless Leg Syndrome? Caffeine is a big culprit which effects RLS suffers. Drink a cup of regular coffee instead of decaf and you are in for one miserable night of jumpy legs and no sleep. So I believe there is a market here. It just needs to be targeted. This product isn't for the average Joe. With as much hype as there is on health and nutrition, organic foods, etc. that would be my target audience. The health market. Whole Foods, nutrition stores, gyms. And mothers - maternity stores, baby stores, baby food aisle, etc.
I see where Stacy found a similar product. The D+Caf strip seems to have a few issues. It doesn't seem very easy to read. "If the D line is darker than the C line??" They are both orange in color. Why not make them different colors? Easy to differentiate. Red it has a high amount of caffeine, green it doesn't. Or maybe there is a way to measure the amount of caffeine in the drink?? Even decaf has a tiny amount in it. Also, the price seems a little high. I would pick up these strips if I saw them in a store for about $4.95 for a pack of 20 or 30. I wouldn't waste my time ordering them online at $9.95 a pop. I never even knew anything like this existed so "D+Caf" doesn't seem to be doing a very good job targeting their audience. Nice idea Robin.
There's a whole market here for testing strips - for sugars, for nuts, for swine flu...I'm joking a little but also being a little serious, especially about the nuts for those who are hyper-allergic. Probably out of price range of Quirky, in order to be chemically stable and lasting, and probably doesn't have mass appeal, but interesting nonetheless.
Comments
Thanks Sierra and everyone. I'll check out the patent and the already 'available' though pretty invisible product (I googled for everything decaf before submitting to quirky and got zip). As for caffeine-free seekers, it's not only pregnant or nursing women and people who don't want caffeine for health reasons; it's also the whole enormous baby boomer market that is unable to sleep after drinking caffeine post 5 PM. The chemistry for developing the strip tip seems the major hurdle--though far less complex than a fancy probe. More like the pregnancy strip: pee on it and it turns a color for yes or no. Also, you could expand the product, yes, to bigger markets--"matchstick books" for peanut or other allergies, MSG, sugar, etc. The health-food market is already vast and still growing. RM
@Shawn Electronic probes are very complicated and expensive to make. At least for a pH probe it involves VERY thin glass and a steady electrical current.
To do this correctly you need to use ligand based chemistry and unless you know of a chemical that will specially bind caf. then you have a product but until then its going to be tough.
I think this is a great product idea but the know how to get it done will be tough.
Make it electronic (retractable probe?)...it could give you information on caffeine content, sugar content, even temperature.
I like the idea, but I'm wondering if Quirky is the avenue to pursue for medical/health products. Looking at all the products that have made it past presales, they all have a "techy" vibe. I do like the idea, though. Good luck!
There's also already a patent for such a device. I suspect licensing might make this more expensive than most consumers would pay for it.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5610072.html
I'm with Sierra. Great idea. There's a lot of us who don't want to be responsible for caffeine effected unborn / newborn babies!
I've never heard of such a product, and I am sure that people would buy it, but aren't there a lot more people that want caffeine than those that don't? Also, if there are already products out there that do this, I would think that people are more likely to buy from a company that is named "discovertesting" than they would from "quirky".
I am constantly concerned about my caffeine intake. I am 8 months pregnant so I do need to worry about how much I am consuming as it could be harmful to the baby (the limit for a pregnant women is 200 mg/day). The average 8 oz. cup of coffee has 135 mg of caffeine. A cappuccino 90 mg. A 12 oz. cola, 35 mg. As you can see it's not hard to past the recommended amount. I still enjoy going to Starbucks, why should I have to give that up just because I'm pregnant? I just supplement by ordering decaf, but I always wonder - what if it's not really decaf? Also (sorry for the visual guys) but when women breastfeed (the currently recommend you breastfeed until the baby is one year of age, minimum) so mothers still need to worry about the caffeine intake even after the baby is born - as whatever you drink, the baby drinks a few hours later. Too much will cause you to have a fussy baby. So that's a minimum of 20 months mothers need to be concerned about their intake for one baby. There are also medical reasons why one would need to stay away from caffeine. For example if anyone has seen those commercials on Restless Leg Syndrome? Caffeine is a big culprit which effects RLS suffers. Drink a cup of regular coffee instead of decaf and you are in for one miserable night of jumpy legs and no sleep. So I believe there is a market here. It just needs to be targeted. This product isn't for the average Joe. With as much hype as there is on health and nutrition, organic foods, etc. that would be my target audience. The health market. Whole Foods, nutrition stores, gyms. And mothers - maternity stores, baby stores, baby food aisle, etc.
I see where Stacy found a similar product. The D+Caf strip seems to have a few issues. It doesn't seem very easy to read. "If the D line is darker than the C line??" They are both orange in color. Why not make them different colors? Easy to differentiate. Red it has a high amount of caffeine, green it doesn't. Or maybe there is a way to measure the amount of caffeine in the drink?? Even decaf has a tiny amount in it. Also, the price seems a little high. I would pick up these strips if I saw them in a store for about $4.95 for a pack of 20 or 30. I wouldn't waste my time ordering them online at $9.95 a pop. I never even knew anything like this existed so "D+Caf" doesn't seem to be doing a very good job targeting their audience. Nice idea Robin.
There's a whole market here for testing strips - for sugars, for nuts, for swine flu...I'm joking a little but also being a little serious, especially about the nuts for those who are hyper-allergic. Probably out of price range of Quirky, in order to be chemically stable and lasting, and probably doesn't have mass appeal, but interesting nonetheless.
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