The Zoom Jet, our charcoal-only cookstove, was awarded Gold in the 2014 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA®) by a panel of 24 international design experts over 2,000 other entries.

The design of EcoZoom’s Jet jiko began in 2012 in a cookstove laboratory in the USA run the Aprovceho Research Center, a leading organization in the cookstove engineering and testing field and EcoZoom’s research & development partner. EcoZoom then worked with partners to bring prototypes to 6 countries for testing with cooks and engaged with industrial designer Diana Sierra to work with cooks to redesign the look, feel and ergonomics of the product. The whole process took us about a year to complete. Learn more about it on our Design Page.

"Good design is about helping people in limited condition to work with their resources and limitation to create solutions that truly address the consumer needs and aspirations. Smart products take into consideration all the variables in a users's environment and no matter how tough those are, they still will be able to offer affordable, functional, ergonomic, beautiful and aspirational solutions that dignify people and empower them to unleash the incredible potential that exist in every human being," says Diana Sierra, EcoZoom's contract industrial designer.

We excited to provide a beautiful product with a wide range of benefits to users and the environment, including fuel savings of 60%, less smoke, fewer emissions and a reduction in burn risk. Right now, we exclusively sell this product in Kenya where we opened our second office. But we think the carefully design that went into this product - in both the lab and the field - goes beyond Kenya and will be a good fit in other charcoal markets in Africa.

We believe that all people should have access to beautifully designed products that will improve their health, income and environment.

IDEA Award Winners Press Release: http://idsa.org/images/pdfs/IDEA14_release.pdf

IDEA 2014 Awards Winners Gallery: http://www.idsa.org/idea-2014-gallery