Brisbane utensil maker Dreamfarm has a smash hit with its new pepper mill

A Brisbane entrepreneur is generating million of dollars in revenue by developing and exporting his kooky kitchenware to the world. His latest hit is a high speed pepper mill.

EXPORTING kooky kitchenware has proven a winning recipe for a Brisbane-based utensil company.

Dreamfarm has just shipped over 20,000 of its latest creation — a high speed pepper or spice mill with 80 per cent of pre-orders coming from overseas.

The product, called the Ortwo, is the latest unique creation from the company, which was launched by founder managing director Alexander Gransbury in 2003, when he was just 22.

Since then, the original products and gadgets created by Dreamfarm have attracted global attention, particularly in the United States.

Its products include a range of levelling measuring scoops and cups, adaptable utensils and knives.

The Ortwo was the first time the brand, whose original products are now stocked in thousands of stores across the world, had used Kickstarter to take pre-orders for a product, Mr Gransbury said.

“Normally we make something first, and then put it out there,” he said. “We are pretty stoked with the result.”

Alex Gransbury with his Ortwo kitchen gadget. Picture: AAP Image/Josh Woning

It made $35,000 in just the first three weeks, has gone on to win a Red Dot design award, a Gia design award and a Good Design Award.

Mr Gransbury said the Ortwo was one of the more complicated products it had launched, with several new materials requiring the company to use different factories, and changing their minimum order requirements.

He also said the pre-ordering campaign had also offered the company helpful insights when pitching to retailers.

“We learnt very quickly that people wanted to buy a pair of them, rather than a single item,” he said.

Dreamfarm, which now employs 18 and has a turnover of $5 million to $10 million, has several hundred thousand of its most popular products — the Supoon and a garlic crusher, the Garject.

Mr Gransbury said the ability for customers to see videos of how their unique products perform in store and via social media had made a huge impact on the continued growth of the company.

“At Dreamfarm our greatest asset is that our products do something that people haven’t seen before, and that’s why video has been so huge for us, because sometimes they can be a bit hard to explain,” he said.