What does a foodie do when they have gourmet kitchen needs and minimal kitchen space? While an impossibly tiny kitchen is a fact of life for most New Yorkers, Julie Fuhrmann wasn’t going to let her cooking space’s miniscule footprint prevent her from her passion: creating mouth-watering, home-cooked meals to put on her family’s table. Instead, she decided to start looking for ways to make the limited space she had available more practical, functional, and, dare we say it? Fun.

Unfortunately, she was frequently disappointed by the drab or even uncomfortable space-saving products that were readily available. Together, Julie and her husband Brandon decided to take matters into their own hands and set out on a mission to address this marketplace gap.

Just like that, Cooler Kitchen was born.

“We created our brand specifically around the idea of creating products that are space-saving and ergonomic,” says Brandon, who is now Cooler Kitchen’s chief executive officer.

“The first products we designed were items that spoke to our aesthetic and which we desperately needed ourselves. Products that look great out on display and can save you an entire drawer’s worth of space.”

As more and more people expressed enthusiasm for their products, Brandon and Julie realised they were onto a winning idea. They decided to go all in and create a complete line of space-saving, ergonomic and stylish kitchen products which quickly became must-have items for others who were dealing with the same issues.

Unfortunately, the qualities that made Cooler Kitchen’s products so appealing to their customer-base – unique style and flair, and user-friendly design – also caught bad actors’ attention.

“I’d often check my phone to find out someone new was trying to pass off our products as theirs,” he says. “I was constantly reporting fake listings, writing complaints and putting together legal challenges. It took up huge amounts of time and cost us a ton of money.”

Cooler Kitchen’s reputation as a brand also started taking a hit. “People would write to us or post bad reviews saying that our products are terrible,” continues Brandon. “These were definitely not our products, but explaining this to angry customers is extremely challenging.”

Fighting off counterfeiters became a full-time job. Brandon remembers it as an incredibly challenging, disheartening time. Clearly, something had to be done away.