Success – Butter Bay

Butter Bay Idea Spreads Worldwide

Company Profile:

Though the French know a thing or two about butter, it took Idaho financial analyst, Jerry Scarrow, to improve upon the centuries-old French Butter Crock. With a traditional French Crock, one places soft butter in a bell-shaped crock that sits upside down in a shallow pool of water. The water creates an airtight seal that keeps butter fresh and delicious for weeks. 

The idea for a better butter crock came to Scarrow during breakfast one morning in 2005 as he grew frustrated with his inability to spread cold hard butter from the fridge on his toast. The bell-shaped butter crock he owned was empty as usual because it was a pain to load and made a huge mess. “If only the crock was the shape of the butter cube,” he thought. BING! Scarrow couldn’t believe no one had thought of this simple concept. He looked everywhere and found nothing and knew he’d have to make the cube-shaped container himself. Scarrow explains his preoccupation with butter storage by saying, “I’m a weird thinker with lots of ideas in my head.” “My ideas often succumb to busyness or indecision but I couldn’t get the butter idea out of my head.”

Existing Situation:

Scarrow developed his first Butter Bay prototypes by hand at home with the help of his young daughters. He had a vision for The Butter Bay but lacked the advanced design and prototyping skills and manufacturing connections needed to turn his concept into a real product. A friend told him about the product design and prototyping services available from the TechHelp New Product Development (NPD) Team at Boise State’s New Product Development Lab. Scarrow scheduled a meeting with the NPD Team and discovered the means to turn his vision into reality. 

Solution:

The NPD Team had a “Discovery” meeting with Scarrow during which they explored and vetted his idea. After agreeing that there was a viable market niche, the Team worked with Scarrow to develop a scope of work that included product design, prototyping, testing, and acting as liaison with a manufacturer. The NPD Team also referred Scarrow to local legal experts who could help with patent and copyright issues. Scarrow’s handmade prototypes gave the NPD Team a rough idea of his concept. The Team translated Scarrow’s ideas into CAD drawings in SolidWorks and sought his input on revisions before making 3D parts on the lab’s SLA printer. Scarrow used the 3D prototypes to test the fit, feel, and functionality of the product and to recommend additional revisions. He thought the initial prototypes looked too blocky, so he and the team developed additional iterations before settling on a final design that could be manufactured. 

After a thorough search for a U.S. based manufacturer, Scarrow settled on American Mug and Stein in East Liverpool, Ohio. The company had the ability to handcraft quality stoneware the old-fashioned way. Each Butter Bay is made using the slip-cast method, finished by hand, and kiln-fired in a factory that was built in the early 1900s.