You only sell the ‘ultimate planing experience’ once

So this is what the history of the cheese slicer looks like. Sixteen are hung in a row on the wall at the manufacturer Boska. The first shows the year 1925, the newest is from 2019. Sometimes the cutting blade has a curl, sometimes the handle is made of stone, then again of steel or plastic. But to the layman they are blades on a handle.

Not so for industrial designer Frank de Smidt. Look, he says, as he takes the youngest model in his hands: “So this is the perfect cheese slicer.” Suitable for hard and soft cheese, slices that should not crumble or curl, that are neither too thin nor too thick. A nice slice of cheese must be able to breathe, like wine, in order to get flavour.

De Smidt and his co-designers spent a long time working on the planer before they had it. “There are 150 versions above this,” confirms Boska director Martijn Bos. “We practiced for weeks on cheese, soap, cucumber…”

The Monaco+, as marketers dubbed the 2019 model with the “ultimate planing experience”, underwent numerous tests in-house. Did it have to be sharpened from below? From above? How do we weld the stem to the blade? Do we have the good quality spring steel? They thought about cutting angle and cutting surface, they developed a patented diamond pattern, ‘non-stick’ polishing, grooves on the edge that leave no traces on a slice of cheese – the trade doesn’t want that – but do pass the slice through smoothly. “Cheese is fat; it is not allowed to draw a vacuum on the plane”, explains Bos. Disapprovingly: “The competition uses Teflon.”

The company received the renowned German Design Award in 2020 for the trendy black version of the Monaco+. The Monaco+ also received a Red Dot Design Award, a prestigious international design prize.

At Boska (‘Bos Cheese Tools’) they like to tell that story. Because a cheese slicer is simply a consumer product that you don’t really think about, says head of marketing Monique Hullegie. Yes, on the day he doesn’t feel good anymore. And then you can quickly buy a new one at the Action for a euro or two. But that black Monaco+ costs 21.99 euros. So that includes a story, and a lifetime warranty.

horseshoes

When you walk into Boska in Bodegraven, you will find a combination of museum, showroom and reception hall. At the entrance hangs a collage of horseshoes, made by founder Willem Bos. In 1896 he forged his first cheese drill in Bodegraven, South Holland, the heart of the Dutch cheese trade. The company expanded with a hardware store and acquired a position as a supplier of professional cheese tools.

Director Martijn Bos (45) is the fourth generation. After studying small business, he took over the business in 2002. Where father Joop had focused on professional cheese tools – cutting boards, knives, cutting and portioning machines – under Martijn the focus shifted to consumers, new products and export markets. The range food tools has been deepened – raclette, cheese fondue – and broadened: Boska stuff has also been introduced for pizza, meat and chocolate lovers.

This enabled Martijn Bos to increase the share of consumer products in its turnover from 8 to 80 percent. Turnover also increased tenfold, to around 20 million euros. This is achieved in no fewer than 108 countries. Of these, Bos acknowledges, you only have to take Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the US seriously.

Sustainability is now the guiding principle. For new products it means they have to last a lifetime

Where his father stopped with ten employees, there are now about seventy. “If you want to participate, you need scale,” says Bos. This mainly concerns people in support functions, such as sales, customer service and product development.

The production is outsourced. Much comes from China, including the cheese slicer, but Boska has knives made in Italy and gets all its wooden products from Poland. The Polish manufacturer has its own forest. “We want to produce more and more locally. Those two European factories work 100 percent for us,” says Martijn Bos.

business model

Because professional buyers do not want to complain, quality has always been important to Boska. Now sustainability is the guiding principle. As far as Bos is concerned, this is an extension of each other. For the ‘ultimate’ cheese slicer and other new products, it means that they have to last a lifetime. In 2020 this guarantee could be given for 23 percent of the range, now it is 49 percent, he says with undisguised pride. It also means that designs should be minimalist, timeless. They no longer do cheese slicers and fondue sets with trendy colors at Boska, black and white predominate. And honest materials: steel, stone and wood.

It may not be a good idea for his turnover to make a cheese slicer that will last a lifetime, Bos knows. A satisfied user can give someone a copy as a gift, and you can sell something to tourists with a Van Gogh handle, provided there is no corona. But the company will mainly have to rely on new products and markets and strengthening the brand. Bos: “In the end, I hope that consumers are so satisfied that they also buy other products from you.”

He has good hopes of the series of kitchen knives that Boska recently released, and of the ‘veggie and meat market’. There is work to be done for marketer Hullegie. “Our goal for 2030 is a Boska tool on every counter, every cheese department, and in every household. Out of the drawer, on the wall, for a party on the table.” It won’t be easy, she knows. The competition is fierce in knives and other kitchen utensils. “But we bring our know-how from the cheese world, and the confidence we have built up in it.”

Boska expects that the American market will soon surpass the Dutch market. Last June, even the renowned The Wall Street Journal about the Boska cheese slicer under the heading „A class shave ” – which immediately boosted online sales. That article showed that the plane, 97 years after Boska manufactured its first example, still offers new possibilities. A famous cocktail maker told to cut his citrus slices with a Boska slicer.