M.A.K. Marketing was founded in Australia by myself in 1993, to market my patented "Cut 'n' Stay Fresh" product.

BUSINESS BACKGROUND

I have spent much of my time in the restaurant business when I arrived in Australia in 1969, working, learning, managing and owning restaurants.

FROM 1993 to 1998

Whilst I was still running the 'Alpino' restaurant fully licensed I had been working through the required procedure to convert an idea to a marketable product, I both founded the company M.A.K. Marketing and the "Alpino" restaurant in 1993.

I have since devoted all my energies supporting the challenges involved in making my idea a reality and meeting the requirements of the market place from a new prospective.

THE INVENTION

1998 was the year I had the idea for the "Cut ' n' Stay fresh", waste had always been a source of irritation to me. There is always a problem in keeping cakes fresh in cafeterias, tea houses, hotels and restaurants. A customer usually requires a single slice and this is a situation where a cake is sliced and not consumed immediately, there is a problem that the surfaces or slices of cake adjacent a slice that has been removed become exposed to air which causes the surface to become dry and hard and generally unpalatable. This results in the proprietor having to discard the outer slices which results in considerable waste. Another problem with cakes is the need for a careful and slow slicing operation to produce slices that are cut cleanly and evenly to gain reduce wastage of cake. My invention cuts the cake into equal slices and protects each cut from the air until each piece is ready to be sold/eaten.

COMMERCIAL VERSION

I have both a commercial and a domestic version produced, the commercial version has transparent blades. It has been made from polycarbonate which is a very strong material ensuring a quality product while enhancing the presentation and preserving the freshness of elaborate cakes. The commercial version is being well received and is being sold by direct marketing.

Maria