Life with six children in a blended family is a lot of fun, but it can get messy. Just ask husband and wife team Rick Kellow and Beth Kuehl, creators of The GreatPlate.
After one too many spilled soda cans in the family’s basement rec room, Kellow searched for a product that would hold both a snack and beverage upright on a stable surface. Ten years ago, that product didn’t exist, so Kellow sketched some designs and created a prototype.
“We aren’t designers or product development people,” says Kellow, who works in the mortgage industry along with Kuehl. “All we did was design [a product] the way we would like it to be, and people are catching on to it.”
“Catching on” may be a bit of an understatement. Today more than 7 million GreatPlates have been sold, and the product has been featured nationally on QVC, The Rachael Ray Show and TODAY.
The GreatPlate is made at Pro Ex Extrusion in Oshkosh, which Kellow says is the company’s permanent manufacturing partner. Kellow and Kuehl split an investment in robotics with Pro Ex, so now GreatPlate production is entirely automated.
“[Pro Ex is] in a growth mode, so we not only got a manufacturer but one that is more interested in vertical integration,” Kellow says. “A small, fledgling company like ours needs an awful lot of attention, and not many manufacturers are willing to help that scale.”
Since its original one-cavity prototype mold, The GreatPlate line has expanded to a square plate that can hold stemmed wine glasses, a cup and coaster. In 2023, GreatPlates will be hitting the shelves of some major retail chains.
“This next year we will probably triple our sales,” Kellow says. “It’s going to be enormously successful.”
