Eunice Byun, Material Kitchen: Connecting People to Their Kitchens – Well Made E49

To bring clarity to the kitchen drawer, Material co-founders, Eunice Byun and Dave Nguyen did two years of research, testing, and sourcing for their kitchenware brand. The result? An eight-piece Fundamentals set of multi-tasking knives, spatulas, and tongs nestled in a sleek magnetic wood base. The set is minimally designed, with a focus on tactile materials. Eunice believes narrowing in on their product offering sets themselves apart in functionality. And by ultimately focusing on the people using their products, they're laying the groundwork for a shift from incumbent kitchen brands.

On this episode of Well Made, Material CEO Eunice explains how they studied and identified core product values before designing their product (3:47). She dives into the form and function of their fundamentals set (4:41). She talks about setting themselves apart from heritage brands by telling a modern, consumer-centric story (11:19), and how they plan to do that with a new content series (12:33). She also talks about operating beyond the typical direct-to-consumer business model (20:14) and the duality of value in pricing and product design (22:02). Stephan and Eunice share their thoughts about the foodie movement and the power of Instagram in purchasing decisions (25:22), and lastly, the new traditions she hopes to create through the kitchen drawer (33:38).

You can follow Eunice on Instagram and Material on Instagram and Twitter.

Also mentioned on the show:

• Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat
• Marie Kondo