Refrigerated Auto Feeder coming soon

Gundy

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 8, 2021
Messages
251
Reaction score
310
Location
Utah
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
In 2019 a company called InD created a prototype for an automatic frozen fish feeder. Out of curiosity, I searched for this product online and visited their website. From what I can tell, the feeder has undergone 3 major design changes and their website says the feeder will be available this year. You can preorder a unit now but no date is given for delivery.

The unit apparently delivers the food through a 6 mm wide tube, allowing for larger pieces to be used In a slurry delivery. It looks very professional and the price was stated as $299.00 a while back. The company has gone though a name change along with the latest design so I wouldn’t think the price will be the same. Who knows when it will be available but if the unit is dependable, this will be a game changer for a lot of people.
 

Ben549

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Messages
2,648
Reaction score
1,875
Location
Minnesota
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
In 2019 a company called InD created a prototype for an automatic frozen fish feeder. Out of curiosity, I searched for this product online and visited their website. From what I can tell, the feeder has undergone 3 major design changes and their website says the feeder will be available this year. You can preorder a unit now but no date is given for delivery.

The unit apparently delivers the food through a 6 mm wide tube, allowing for larger pieces to be used In a slurry delivery. It looks very professional and the price was stated as $299.00 a while back. The company has gone though a name change along with the latest design so I wouldn’t think the price will be the same. Who knows when it will be available but if the unit is dependable, this will be a game changer for a lot of people.
I worked with Erik on this after his Kickstarter. I will say this, Erik is an awesome person who cares deeply for people who are willing to buy his product. At one point, he was selling his house to free up funding for the development.

I don't know the details behind the current design iteration but it looks great IMO and I'm looking forward to seeing reviews for it once it's released.
 
OP
OP
Gundy

Gundy

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 8, 2021
Messages
251
Reaction score
310
Location
Utah
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I received an email from the company today stating that the feeder will be available in the winter of this year. They are finalizing last minute details before it’s release. My guess is that it’s very close to being ready or they wouldn’t have made this announcement. Depending on initial demand, it could be backordered for quite awhile as well and not really be available until early 2024.
 

blaxsun

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 15, 2020
Messages
26,709
Reaction score
31,208
Location
The Abyss
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I received an email from the company today stating that the feeder will be available in the winter of this year. They are finalizing last minute details before it’s release. My guess is that it’s very close to being ready or they wouldn’t have made this announcement. Depending on initial demand, it could be backordered for quite awhile as well and not really be available until early 2024.
So basically late Winter... 2024.
 

dangles

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2022
Messages
1,226
Reaction score
1,458
Location
Ohio
Rating - 100%
2   0   0

I signed up for the updates a few weeks ago. Definitely intrigued!
 

BeanAnimal

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 16, 2009
Messages
5,071
Reaction score
8,108
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Good intentions… 3+ years of missed deadlines. Hopefully this year it will ship.

I see a limited run of units and then maybe batch runs of pre-order cycles unless another mainstay buys in. The market is too small to sustain a long term business building, selling and supporting these alone at such a slim margin with no RMR component.
 

dschuffert

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2022
Messages
669
Reaction score
1,888
Location
USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0

I signed up for the updates a few weeks ago. Definitely intrigued!
Thanks for the info; I just signed up to get notified when it is released.
 

CasperOe

In it to win it!
View Badges
Joined
Feb 14, 2022
Messages
3,261
Reaction score
5,736
Location
Glasgow, United Kingdom
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I did see this one last year on Kickstarter and it sort of just faded away it seemed. Glad to see it's resurfacing again! :) Wonder how it will work when/if released to the market. I am sure we will see reefers from R2R starting to pick them up once they're out.
 
OP
OP
Gundy

Gundy

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 8, 2021
Messages
251
Reaction score
310
Location
Utah
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
The biggest problem they have had was not getting the design right. They had a prototype done in the very beginning and did a complete 180 and went in a different direction. From the released photos of the 2 units, they definitely made a good choice. Also, they obviously have strong financial backing which has allowed them to make decisions they thought they needed to make and not be in a hurry.

Getting the product to be reliable and of good quality will be a must if a company this small is to succeed with only one product. Hopefully it is out soon and can deliver what it promises.
 

BeanAnimal

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 16, 2009
Messages
5,071
Reaction score
8,108
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
As much as I think it is cool, I don’t think the math works at any reasonable price point unless a large OEM in the space buys in and adds it to their line…. Even then how many a year can realistically be sold?
 

Raul-7

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
Messages
317
Reaction score
354
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
As much as I think it is cool, I don’t think the math works at any reasonable price point unless a large OEM in the space buys in and adds it to their line…. Even then how many a year can realistically be sold?

Why is $299 a bad price point? Avast's dry feeder is $200. I'd pay $299 for a refrigerated one.

A lot of reefing equipment is expensive...
 

Sisterlimonpot

Effortless Perfection
View Badges
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
4,260
Reaction score
8,615
Location
Litchfield Park
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Why is $299 a bad price point? Avast's dry feeder is $200. I'd pay $299 for a refrigerated one.

A lot of reefing equipment is expensive...
The point he's making is that without backing from one of the main players in the market, regardless of the persons intentions and how determined they are to succeed, chances are it's going to be extremely difficult in this small market space.

And if what was said is true about mortgaging or selling the house, the owners already "all in" with a huge anvil above his head, waiting to drop. That's a lot of stress!

I've been keeping an eye on inD, I like the idea, and hope to see it come to fruition.

Let's just hope the ui isn't cloud based, because then everyone will be owning a brick if the company goes under.
 

BeanAnimal

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 16, 2009
Messages
5,071
Reaction score
8,108
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Why is $299 a bad price point? Avast's dry feeder is $200. I'd pay $299 for a refrigerated one.

A lot of reefing equipment is expensive...
This is a very very small hobby to begin with. Let's call it 2 million.

Let's say that 1/3 of those people feed frozen food. That is 680,000 people.

Let's say that of those 650,000 people, 20% are interested n food automation. That is 130,000 people.

Let's say that of those 170,000 people that 10% are willing to spend several hundred dollars on a frozen food fish feeder. That is 1,700 people.

Let's now say that of those 1,700 people that 50% follow through with their purchase. That is 850 sales.

Let's round it up to 1,000 sales for easy math.

Let's assume that he found a super cheap way to build these and his total cost to your door is $100. So $100K in gross revenue.

Take away the initial investment and he is left with $50K profit.. but is he?

Now - let's assume that of the 1000 units 5% have some type of warranty failure. That is 50 extra units (assuming they were either returned or replaced) so - $5000

Add in a few promo units for trade shows or possible resellers, etc. He has a business, so needs some kind of insurance and will have to pay taxes on his profits. All of this out of $45,000 or less in profit.

There are no recurring sales to people. as this is a once in a lifetime purchase likely. The market is not getting bigger and while there is high turnover, demand for such a niche product will remain low, maybe a few dozen units a quarter at best, or less.

So the $299 price... more than likely needs to be $1299 for this to be more than a 1 time kickstarter production run.

At least that is my take.
 

Sisterlimonpot

Effortless Perfection
View Badges
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
4,260
Reaction score
8,615
Location
Litchfield Park
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Good point Bean, you definitely know how to put things into perspective. Although people are going to nitpick at where you draw your numbers from. But I get the gist.
So the $299 price... more than likely needs to be $1299
I honestly though that this would retail closer to $695-$995.
 

Raul-7

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
Messages
317
Reaction score
354
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Is 2 million only Reefers or all aquarists? I know the number is hypothetical.

I can see this being a God-send for breeders, FW enthusiasts, etc.

But I agree, ideally he'd sell the patents to a large manufacturer like EcoTech, Aqua Illumination, Neptune, etc.
 

BeanAnimal

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 16, 2009
Messages
5,071
Reaction score
8,108
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Good point Bean, you definitely know how to put things into perspective. Although people are going to nitpick at where you draw your numbers from. But I get the gist.

I honestly though that this would retail closer to $695-$995.
Yeah, the actual numbers are not important in the sense that a larger error one way or the other does not change the result for any reasonable number of sales to sustain a long term business at that price point or anything close to it.
 

BeanAnimal

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 16, 2009
Messages
5,071
Reaction score
8,108
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Is 2 million only Reefers or all aquarists? I know the number is hypothetical.

I can see this being a God-send for breeders, FW enthusiasts, etc.

But I agree, ideally he'd sell the patents to a large manufacturer like EcoTech, Aqua Illumination, Neptune, etc.
No it it not hypothetical. There are/were between 2 and 3 million pre-covid active marine aquarists. In the US. Worldwide doesn’t count and is a whole different business model and set of problems.

The bulk of people attempting to design a tech product and make a living off of this (or any) hobby almost all grossly misjudge their target demographic. Most predictably fail.

The large vendors may be able to make it work because they are already paying the overhead, but even then a low volume specialty item that is certain to be problematic and a support nightmare would need to be closer to $750 - $100 to make sense.
 
Back
Top