To see Mitzeez® in action at Philbrick’s Fresh Market in Portsmouth, watch the short promo video below
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MIND YOUR MITZEEZ® www.MITZEEZ.com from Peter Connors on Vimeo.
PORTSMOUTH, NH – Germaphobes, unite!l
Peter Connors of Portsmouth is your hero – his new product, Mitzeez®, will be featured today on the Dr. Oz Show (2 p.m. on FOX/WXFT Channel 25 on Comcast Xfinity) which provides a simple solution to public food safety concerns that plague public perception of salad bars and such.
Their slogan, “Mind your Mitzeez,” speaks to the previously unsolved problem of using community tongs at grocery stores and restaurants to deliver food to your plate – this product is the first of its kind, which is why Connors knew he was on to something.
In short, Mitzeez are recyclable plastic food safety mitts that fit any hand, large or small, lefties or righties, and can be donned and doffed with a single hand. The patented mitts were designed and developed to prevent cross contamination, promote a culture of courtesy and keep food clean.
And it gets the Dr. Oz stamp of approval today on national TV in an episode dedicated in part to “exposing the dangers of hot food buffets,” replete with undercover footage that should have restaurant managers scrambling for Mitzeez by the case.
Connors explains the long and winding road to getting Mitzeez to market, a nine-year process that resulted in the first “consumer-facing food safety product,” something he’s convinced will catch on quickly, based on nine years of pitching and prototyping.
A serial entrepreneur and longtime advocate for children in crisis through his company, 03810 Productions, Connors was contacted nine years ago by a man who had come up with an idea for something like a sanitary glove for people who loved a good buffet but were grossed out by other people’s germs.
After three years of working on the project together, Connors came up with a solid prototype, and made an initial pitch to a multi-billion-dollar company. It couldn’t have gone better.
Well, almost.
The expected fits and starts of the new product patent business, complicated by corporate mergers and other business-related details beyond Connors’ control, meant it would be several more years before the product could hit the market. Connors’ partner didn’t want to wait for a payday, and so Connors paid him double his initial investment and continued the quest to get Mitzeez onto the hands of consumers.
After several more pitches to various companies, Connors cut to the chase and sought out Dan Grinberg, founder and president of Elara Foodservice, which specializes in protective gloves for food workers. Grinberg immediately saw the symbiosis between his company’s mission and Connors’ innovative product. But it would be two more years before the product was finally ready.
Today’s strategic product placement on the Dr. Oz Show should be the catalyst for everything Connors imagined about the viability of Mitzeez – except that Dr. Oz will not utter the word “MITZEEZ” while demonstrating how they work – for legal reasons, Dr. Oz does not endorse products.
But Connors is satisfied that that exposure on the show will be golden, just the same.
“As an entrepreneur, you’ve got to hustle,” says Connors, of connecting with Dr. Oz. The segment will open up with a hot bar on the set, and Dr. Oz, joined by Inside Edition host Debra Norville, will explain to the audience how to act responsibly at food buffets – especially during cold and flu season.
“The first thing they’ll do is don Mitzeez, and use them as they are using tongs and spoons on the set, then they’ll shake them off and recycle them. Dr. Oz will say something like, “when you see these, use these,” and “you’l be seeing them soon in grocery stores, cruise ships hospital cafeterias,” etcetera. He will not say the brand name – I had to sign a waiver on that. But what I can do is let everyone know they can see Mitzeez today on Dr. Oz,” Connors says.
And now, you know.
For more information go to MITZEEZ.com
