Miles Hammond and his brother always wanted to start a company together. They came up with countless product ideas, but nothing seemed to stick – until something did, literally.
As he was barbecuing in May, Hammond realized his metal-bristled scraper had run out of bristles even as his sticky grill needed to be cleaned. In a last-ditch effort, he used a folded paper towel roll and that’s when lightning struck.
Hammond said he and his brother realized they had a great idea on their hands and got to work on building their business right away.
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The result was the Scrappy Scraper, a disposable barbecue scraper made of cardboard and designed with convenience and safety in mind, Hammond told OBJ. One side of the tool is used to clean the grill while the other side can be used to season it with oil to keep food from sticking.
The product is aimed at those looking for an easy and disposable way to grill while camping, but also for the home cook who doesn’t want the hassle of metal or wood alternatives.
Hammond, who is also president of Ottawa-based industrial design firm Studio 63 and motor vehicle parts manufacturer Ottawa Infotainment, said while some nay-sayers have criticized the product, he believes he’s offering a solution to a common problem.
“Some people have said, ‘I can just cut a piece of cardboard.’ Absolutely, you can. Have you ever gone to a gas station for ice? It’s not an unsolvable problem, but that’s not the point. If you’re going camping and you go to the camp store, you don’t have time to cut up a piece of cardboard. You will purchase something that’s better than (what) you can make,” Hammond told OBJ.
Through trial and error with many prototypes, Hammond said he and his brother landed on a custom-made cardboard that is durable enough to scrape a grill.
“There’s nobody making a product out of cardboard of this size. We’re almost inventing the manufacturing process as we go to satisfy our needs,” he said.
Hammond said he had to learn all there is to know about cardboard to ensure the best product, but also to follow the company’s philosophy of eco-consciousness and having a local-first approach.
“It was a matter of understanding how cardboard is made and how it’s manufactured. It’s glued together with cornstarch so it’s super environmentally friendly but also it’s safe to eat. Inevitably you’re going to get little bits of cardboard dust on your barbecue,” he said, adding that the product is made with 100-per-cent recyclable materials.
The packaging is also eco-friendly. “We’re trying to be as green as possible. A shipping label fits perfectly on the side (of the box) so there’s no more packaging. You could open it up and stick it on a shelf to sell it,” he said.
Hammond said he wanted to reduce the product’s carbon footprint so he started looking at places in Ottawa to produce and manufacture it.
“We don’t want to go to China. Can I get it cheaper in China? Yes. But is the cardboard made of the right materials? No. We actually make some of the best cardboard right here in Ontario.”
As a result, the Scrappy Scraper is a local product through and through, Hammond said, adding that Ottawa presented surprising opportunities for his small business.
“I think Ottawa has this unique ecosystem where we can challenge the world … I reached out to over 30 manufacturers to manufacture this product and the only people that got back to me were the local guys. Ottawa always surprises me that we have such a diverse set of skills here, from injection molding to cardboard (production) and packaging. Ottawa has it all.
“We would love to expand our manufacturing facilities so that we’ve got less shipping throughout North America. We want to make it as local as we can. We want to give back as well so we can support reforestation,” he said, adding that he would like to partner with Parks Canada.
Hammond said that bootstrapping the project has been relatively easy as startup costs have been fairly low. He and his brother received a $100,000 loan from BDC to kickstart the first production run of 20,000 units and they reached out to Invest Ottawa for additional resources.
“We want to leverage as many of those services as possible … Ottawa has an amazing ecosystem to help small businesses like mine to grow.”
As the business scales, Hammond said he’ll look for investors to help the Scrappy Scraper fulfill partnerships with big-box stores such as Canadian Tire and Home Hardware.
Hammond said he expects the business to be cash positive in about six months and entering the retail world in 18 months.
Hammond said he and his brother are looking to add one or two employees in the next six months to help with logistics, bookkeeping and social media presence. Additionally, Hammond said he hopes to have his own dedicated manufacturing space, allowing Scrappy Scraper to employ more people within the next year if all goes well.
Though it’s still early days, the business has already seen more than 60 clients in about two weeks since the launch of online sales.
“We sold 30 boxes of 12 in the first week and I think we’re on track to double that this week. It hasn’t been an overnight success, but the fact that our sales continue to grow, the response has been really, really great,” he said.
With a background in industrial design, Hammond said he’s had decades of experience to prepare him for this venture but it still proved to be an education.
“I’ve been developing products for over 25 years so I have those skills of research and ergonomics … It’s a very young company and it’s been really eye-opening to see how to build a brand from the ground up. I always help clients with the design aspect of it but the actual building and business side of things is a mission,” he said.
As he looks to the future, Hammond said he’s expecting to capitalize on the upcoming holiday season, especially after missing the summer rush.
“Instead of taking a bottle of wine to somebody’s house, especially considering so many people are not drinking anymore, you could bring this. It’s something new, something novel,” he said. “Unfortunately we missed a lot of the summer … But we haven’t missed the Christmas season and I think that’s really going to cement us the brand and sales,” he said.
Ultimately, Hammond told OBJ that he wants to turn the world of barbecue scrapers on its head.
“The goal is to get them everywhere. Nobody loves their barbecue scraper. Everybody buys them because they need them,” he said. “If we could replace everybody’s barbecue scraper with a piece of cardboard, that’s not going to hurt the planet. That’s legacy stuff, as far as I’m concerned.”
