TOG Knives is a Bristol-based brand that designs and sells premium kitchen knives, batch-produced in the Samurai sword capital of Japan. We’re now in many of the top kitchens in the UK and appearing on TV too. Our knives can be recognised by the layers of copper in the blades and also by the laser engraved pattern on the handles.
We also have chopping boards, knife sharpening products, pocket knives and knife storage products – everything people need for amazing food preparation. Our mission is solve the problem of blunt knives. These are frustrating and unsafe to use and often consigned to the back of the drawer or thrown away. TOG aims to move society away from mass produced disposable plastic products towards high-performance tools that will last a lifetime if looked after properly.
We teach people to maintain their products and take a long term view whilst at the same time reducing the environmental impact of the products by using recycled, reclaimed and renewable materials in our designs.
How did you come up with the idea for the company?
I was utterly inspired after meeting a genuine Samurai swordsmith in Japan and hearing the stories of how Samurai swords are made. All that incredibly history, knowledge and skill in Seki has now been channelled into making kitchen knives.
My belief is that the best possible kitchen knife for the West is designed in Britain and made in Japan. That was the idea for the company.
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How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?
ver the last couple of years we have been preparing for scale – looking at every part of our supply chain and improving efficiency and speed and simplifying. We’ve been embedding new processes to improve operations. We’ve also been automating many aspect of the business.
This year we raised £356k via Crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, hitting our target in 24hrs and overfunding to 239%. The funds will allow us to overhaul our supply chain and marketing as well as launch many new products over the coming years.
What can we hope to see from TOG Knives in the future?
We want to make the whole of the UK love cutting food. To this end, you’re going to see lots more inspiring collaborations, new product launches, a new website and a new visual feel that inspires more people to invest in an awesome kitchen knife and revolutionise their food preparation!
The post Meet Bert Beagley-Brown, MD and Founder at Premium Kitchen Knife Brand: TOG Knives appeared first on TechRound.