OEM
A 2-quart 18/10 kettle with a folding handle and a spout strainer, built to the brand’s own drawing and finished in the signature colour they specify — on our lines since 2008.
The brief
An established kitchenware brand with a lifetime warranty behind it does its own design work at home and hands the factory a finished drawing. The job is not to interpret it but to reproduce it, run after run, for years: a folding hinge that has to survive the warranty, a signature colour that has to look the same on a reorder a decade later, and a base that works on everything from gas to induction. The brand publishes the kettle as designed in Canada; the manufacturing has been ours since 2008.
The product
| Capacity | 2 quarts |
|---|---|
| Body | 18/10 stainless steel, seamless construction |
| Base | Encapsulated, for even heating |
| Handle | Folds partly to fill, fully to store; two grip positions |
| Spout | Built-in strainer — brews large-leaf tea in the kettle |
| Whistle | Yes |
| Cooktops | Electric, gas, ceramic, halogen and induction |
Specification as published on the brand’s own product page. “Designed in Canada” is the brand’s own stated wording.
What it takes to build
A handle with two grip positions that folds to store is a moving joint on a product carrying a limited lifetime warranty. The hinge, not the kettle, is what the warranty gets tested on — it is a tolerance and fatigue problem that has to be settled at tooling.
When the colour is the product’s name on the shelf, drift between production runs is a returns problem. Finishing runs in-house on our own lines, and bulk is inspected against the approved reference sample so a reorder matches the first run.
Electric, gas, ceramic, halogen and induction from a single encapsulated base is a bonding spec, not a marketing line. Composite base technology is one of the group’s own core processes and sits inside its 300+ patents.
Seamless construction is chosen because there is no join to leak, discolour or fail. The trade is that a body drawn in one piece cannot be corrected by welding a section in: a wall that thins in the wrong place is scrap, not rework. That pushes the quality decision back into forming and tool condition, where it can only be held by monitoring, not by inspection at the end.
Brewing large-leaf tea in the kettle rather than in a pot means the strainer sits in the flow path. Too coarse and it does not hold the leaf; too fine and it chokes the pour and the whistle with it. It is one of the few features where the functional test is subjective, which makes an approved reference sample more important, not less.
In detail
The signature colour up close. Matching it on a reorder a decade later is a finishing-line problem, which is why finishing runs in-house against an approved reference sample.
The grip rides on the folding bail. The hinge underneath it, not the kettle, is what the lifetime warranty actually gets tested on.
The whistle cap has to seal on the spout and still lift to pour. Behind it the handle bracket is riveted to an already-painted body, so the finish has to survive assembly as well as the years after it.
The engagement
The folding two-position handle is where this programme is won or lost, because the brand sells the kettle with a limited lifetime warranty and a warranty is redeemed on the hinge, not on the body.
The handle has to fold partly to fill, fully to store, and carry the weight of a full kettle through years of opening and closing without loosening, rattling or failing. That is a tolerance question before it is a design one; once the mould exists it is too late to adjust.
No seam means nothing to leak or discolour, but it also means nothing can be reworked — a wall drawn thin in the wrong place is scrap. Quality control moves forward into forming and tool condition, where it is held by monitoring rather than by inspection at the end.
Electric, gas, ceramic, halogen and induction from a single encapsulated base is a bonding specification rather than a marketing line, and it has to be designed in before tooling rather than added later.
How the programme ran
From our own range
This kettle is built to the brand’s drawing and is not ours to sell. Where a buyer does not have drawings, starting from a structure we already tool is faster and avoids mould development altogether. Body, finish, colour, handle, packaging and accessories are all customisable from there.
See all stainless steel kettlesCommon questions
The drawing, the destination markets and an indication of annual volume are enough to start. Colour is best sent as a code and a physical reference together, as this programme does: a code alone leaves the finish open to interpretation, and a physical sample settles it. We come back with a manufacturability review before quoting tooling, so anything that would be expensive to make is raised at the start.
That is what the reference sample exists for. Finishing runs in-house on our own lines, and bulk output is inspected against the approved reference rather than against a spec sheet, so a reorder is matched to the physical original instead of re-interpreted. Where a colour is the product’s name on the shelf, drift between runs is a returns problem, so it is treated as a quality characteristic rather than a cosmetic one.
Yes, and it is usually the part of the kettle that decides the warranty. A handle that folds is a moving joint carrying the full weight of a filled kettle, so the hinge is a tolerance and fatigue problem to be settled at tooling rather than adjusted afterwards. Moulds and fixtures are cut in our own toolroom, which is what keeps that part in-house through revisions.
Sourcing questions that apply to any programme — minimum order quantity, lead times, and whether production matches the approved sample — are answered on the OEM page and in our sourcing FAQ.
The route
Same process, whatever you bring: consult, design, sample in 7–10 days, your approval, then production built to match the sample.
A drawing, a spec, a reference sample or nothing but a category and a price band. Tell us your market and volumes and we reply with a plan, MOQ and next steps, usually within one business day.
Or reach sales directly: potobelo@zoombo.co · +86-663-3286181
