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Dane crowdfunding his way to an icy success

Christian Wenande
October 21st, 2015


This article is more than 9 years old.

The Icebreaker could be the next step up from the ice cube bag

The Icebreaker looks a lot less messy than the traditional ice cube holder (photo: Icebreaker)

Clubs, party hosts and drink aficionados could very well be acquiring a nifty little addition to their ‘tool kit’ in the not too distant future.

Just over 30 years after Erling Vangedal-Nielsen revolutionised the global drinking scene with the invention of the ice cube bag, Kim Jensen has followed in his Danish compatriot’s footsteps with a new and sleek ice cube dispenser: the ‘Icebreaker’.

Jensen turned to the crowdfunding site Kickstarter in September for help to fund the development and marketing of the Icebreaker. That quickly turned out to be a useful move.

Hoping to raise 200,000 kroner within 45 days, the Icebreaker has already generated close to 500,000 kroner with ten days of crowdfunding time still remaining. Check out the Icebreaker Kickstarter page here.

“We only have one shot at showing the world that this is for sure the evolution of the ice cube tray – it has to work smoothly in order to eliminate the obstacles with the existing solutions,” according to Jensen.

READ MORE Danish crowdfunding bid to send a rocket to the Moon

From Texas to Thisted
Jensen said he got the idea when he lived in Texas where he could easily get ice cubes from his fridge – something not possible with many fridges in Denmark.

The Icebreaker is expected to be available in shops next summer for a price of about 300 kroner, although backing it on Kickstarter will get you the product even earlier.

“The Icebreaker is about the same size as a normal ice cube tray,” according to its description.

“You turn the lid and fill it with water. You close the lid and put it in your freezer in any orientation without any water leaking out. When the water has frozen, you take the icebreaker out of the freezer and rotate the lid to dispense the ice cubes out one by one into your glass.”


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”