Revolutionizing Mealtime: Palate the Treat

Innovative Vacuum Food Storage System for Working Professionals

Palate the Treat is a vacuum food storage system that provides a luxury eating experience for working professionals. The designers identified the lunch culture of working professionals as inconvenient, with lunch options often being expensive, time-consuming, and disappointing. The system provides elegant food plating as well as fresh and appetizing taste sealed into one single package, allowing users to treat themselves to a restaurant-quality food every day of the week.

The design is unique in its use of vacuum sealing technology, traditionally used in the food production industry, to extend food shelf life, preserve flavors and textures, and increase preparation efficiency. The design of continuous hard-soft surfaces adds the innovative ability to vacuum with liquid and reuse overtime. The double-mold hard plastic plate and soft plastic shell provides a continuous, flexible, multi-functional surface that serves as a plate, a sealing package, as well as the handle.

The user can easily cook and preserve a multiple course meal in an attractive plating set-up. By utilizing the hand held vacuum, they can cook enough portions to fill multiple container at once, store and transfer the meals from fridge to work while preserving the food perfectly in their freshly cooked state.

The project started in September of 2016 and finished in January of 2017 in Providence as a collaborative study between Carly Kim and Azlee Yu, under the instruction of Professor Jorge Paricio. The design process involved extensive research into the optimal food solution for working professionals, including qualitative interviews and quantitative online surveys. The design criteria for the solution was that the product had to be efficient, flexible for variety, and most importantly feel like a “treat” and offer a restaurant experience both visually and taste-wise.

Palate the Treat has been recognized for its innovative design, winning Silver in A' Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design Award in 2017. The award is given to top-of-the-line, creative, and professionally remarkable designs that illustrate outstanding expertise and innovation.